The Golden Moment
by Rose of the West
Summary: "It's too incredible to be true. It's more incredible than the Dark Lord being destroyed, more incredible than Potter coming to my defense before the Wizengamot. It's even more incredible than my standing here alive in front of you..." SSxCanon female
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns_

January 1999

They brought Severus to the women's floor of St. Mungo's. He didn't want to be there. He didn't think there was any reason for him to be there. Poppy insisted. "She's been asking for you," she said as she tugged his sleeve to make him walk faster.

"I can't imagine why."

"You know why."

He stopped and shut his eyes. "It's too incredible to be true. It's more incredible than the Dark Lord being destroyed, more incredible than Potter coming to my defense before the Wizengamot. It's even more incredible than my standing here alive in front of you. It's just not possible, Poppy." 

* * *

Late March 1998

The witch was brought to him one spring night. She was bedraggled. Her hair was a half-braided mess and her face was smudged. Her robe was torn and one of her shoes was missing. She looked more like a Hogwarts student who had gotten into a pile-up at a Quidditch match than the elegant pure-blood soon-to-be-grandmother she was. Worst of all, there was a look in her eyes that would break the heart of anyone except the three people who brought her to him: Her sisters and the Dark Lord.

He couldn't face her because of that look. He'd seen it in a mirror one night himself. It was the look of absolute loss, of a person who couldn't go on because the one who they loved more than anything was gone. He almost lost his composure looking at her. He forced a mask of indifference on his face and listened to his master.

"The girls, here, managed to exterminate one of the blights on their family tree."

He thought for a moment, absorbing the news without a sign of emotion. "I suppose that means I should congratulate them?"

"Instead of congratulations, they would prefer you to take on a service."

"Indeed?"

The eldest sister snorted while the youngest sighed and looked at him hopefully.

"It would seem that this witch has need of re-education. She's been out of the family fold for a very long time."

"I don't see my role in all of this."

"Really, Severus, isn't this a school?" The dark-haired witch turned and said, "Truly, my lord, I don't think this is the best—"

"Relax, my dear. He's the best option."

"She could stay—she _should_ stay—with the family."

The other sister spoke. "It's impossible, with everything going on. We can't trust her not to do something..."

"She's quite right, my dear. She would need to be watched every minute and we simply don't have the people to do that at the family home, not with the other things that must be done."

"And my role?" Entertaining as these family spats were to watch, Severus preferred to get back to the topic of conversation. The sooner these interlopers were gone, the sooner he could get back to his paperwork and the new bottle of firewhisky that would follow it.

Red eyes gleamed as the Dark Lord returned his gaze to the servant he had come to appreciate above the others.

"We brought her to you, Severus." It was said with a caressing hiss. "Consider her a gift."

"You're _giving_ her to me? You can't do that. She's a witch, a pure-blood witch. She's not someone's owl or cat."

"Exactly the point, Severus. We cannot treat her as a prisoner because she is just the sort we wish to have in the future. Her Mudblood-loving ways, however, make her a liability at the moment."

"Then you wish me to guard her parole?"

"Call it what you wish. Use her as a slave or coddle her as one of your precious students, but keep her with you. Don't let her get into the hands of the other side."

"I'm not sure..."

"I am sure you will do as you think best, Severus, and that it will suit my needs."

Three of his guests finally left him and the middle sister standing in the Headmaster's office. The youngest sister gave her hand a clasp and stopped to kiss him on the cheek as she followed the others. He watched a clock tick a full minute before returning to sit down at his desk. With a flick of his wand, there was a chair for her as well. She gave no indication that she noticed.

"What am I do do with you?" he asked. She didn't move and it wasn't even clear that she had heard him.

His bottle of Ogden's Old was farther away than ever as he summoned a house-elf. "Bluebell, I want you to take this witch to my bathroom and help her get a bath. Can you get her clothing as well?"

"Yes, Master Headmaster."

He left and went to the school's infirmary. At this time of night, the hallways should have some small buzz of activity, but there was just a grim silence. He knew the students thought he expected total silence and frightened scurrying, but he actually preferred to see them wander through the halls with some sign of cheerful industry. He sighed. He would have loved to become Headmaster of the school and implement small changes, but this was never what he would have taken on unless it was life or death.

The Matron watched him walk in and set her lips in a firm line. She started in on the topic of conversation they had most recently argued about. "You can't expect me to work miracles. One of these days a student is going to end up like the Longbottoms, and then there'll be hell to pay. You can't let them do as they please and expect me to just fix it."

"I know you don't believe me, but I don't like it any more than you do. I'll speak to them again, Poppy, but tonight I have a different concern. Would you come to my quarters?"

She looked through the Hospital wing. It was empty that night because the students would all be returning home for their Easter Holiday in the morning. "Severus, why do I need to come to your quarters?"

Did he need to remind her he was the Headmaster? He growled, "Just come."

The elf had Severus's guest bathed and in a dressing gown by the time they got back. She was working a comb through the tangled hair and although some of the snarls were complicated and required the elf to tug fairly hard, the witch hardly flinched.

Poppy immediately walked over to see to her. "Severus, what happened?"

"From what I was told, her husband was killed today."

Poppy cleared her throat. "Not him, too. It's been so long that I thought he had a chance."

"I think she was involved in the fight."

Poppy held her hands and quickly saw they were chapped and the nails were damaged. "She must have been on the run with him. She hasn't eaten as well as she might."

"Is she hurt or ill?"

"I'll look her over, if you'll give us some privacy."

"If she escapes, I can't speak for what would happen here at the school..."

"They'll send us more thugs, you mean to say. I understand, Severus. I'll come down to your office when I'm done, all right?"

"I'll be there."

He stared unseeingly as he went over his paperwork. The last time he had seen her, he was teaching her a tricky potion. She was a gentle soul, milder than either sister. She was queen of her small domain and rarely left it. She was practically in hiding during the first war and rarely came into public after it ended. When her older sister had escaped Azkaban, she returned to her smaller world. His two weeks at her cottage, teaching her to make Wolfsbane, had been a respite in an oasis.

He had been envious of her husband. It wasn't that he was jealous over her, although most men who met her came away a little smitten. His feeling lay in the fact that such women existed who presided over their families and contentedly made their own corner of the world a paradise. He was envious because he would never enjoy such a home as his own while at the same time he knew that he fought partially to keep such homes in existence. It was a feeling similar to the one he had in the presence of Molly Weasley.

Her husband had been on the run, but she hadn't needed to run. He would have to find out how she had been captured. He wondered about her daughter and son-in-law. If those two had been captured or killed, the Dark Lord or his harpy would have said something, Severus was sure. He looked at his papers. They were in disarray. He sighed and started assembling them back into the proper order.

"Headmaster."

Poppy had come into the room. He stood. "Yes?"

"She's uninjured except for some minor scrapes and bruises. Someone Stupified her and another person seems to have put her in a Body Bind, but neither will create lasting damage. She's suffering from the shock of whatever she has seen, not to mention her husband's death."

"They were quite attached to each other."

"Yes, they were. I would prefer to bring her to my Hospital Wing and keep an eye on her."

"I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Could we do what needs to be done in my quarters?"

She snorted. "You're the ringleader of the torture and killing at Hogwarts, and you stretch my skills to the limit. You're preventing me from doing what needs to be done, but you use proper manners when you're speaking. I'll give you that, Severus."

He couldn't answer her so he turned to the matter at hand. "What needs to be done for her?"

She sighed. "Someone should be by her side all the time to watch her. I'm not sure she won't try to harm herself."

"Is it as bad as that?"

"Some people respond that way to such a loss. I can't say until she comes back to herself. Can you keep an eye on her? I got her to take some sips of tea with milk and honey, and I think she'll sleep. She needs someone who will get her to eat and encourage her to describe what happened."

"I'll stay with her."

"What about your Headmaster duties?"

"For tonight, at least, they lie in all of this paperwork. I can do that here in my room. I'll take care of tomorrow when it arrives."

"All right then, Severus."

After a disapproving and warning glare, the mediwitch left and Severus went back up to his bedroom. He slid an easy chair near the bed and watched her sleep for a few minutes. She looked more like herself. She had the family coloring and features. They were a bit strong for a woman, but all three sisters had somehow managed to look attractive. Her eyes were striking, but right now all he could see were her cheekbones and eyelashes. Even her lips were colorless.

There were lines around her eyes, showing the strain she had been under. Her hair was clean and framed her face with some of its beauty, but it was a lackluster dull brown instead of the brilliant array of browns, reds, and blonds that he had seen once, when it wasn't in its usual braid or upsweep.

She seemed more relaxed than she had been when she was awake. She was fortunate to be asleep, where she could forget her troubles. He stared at her a few more minutes and then started completing his paperwork.

His own night of anguish came back to him. He had gone to Lily's house to see what had happened. He had arrived before the Ministry had taken care of their bodies. She was as beautiful as ever on that bedroom floor, but she wasn't ever going to smile at him again. Lily was forever gone and he would never know her rapt attention or her laugh again.

As he dozed, he saw her smile at him in his dreams. _Lily_, he thought as a yearning he had ignored for years suddenly surged within him.

"Don't!"

He startled awake. He couldn't tell what time it was. Some of the candles had burned down to their bases and guttered out. She was moving restlessly on the bed, searching for someone who would never be there.

"No!" It was a moan and tears were starting to run down her face. Her eyes were open but she wasn't awake. He sat in indecision, wondering what he should do.

"Please come back!"

Now it was a cry of anguish and somehow he couldn't ignore it. He sat beside her on the bed and pushed her hair from her face. In an instant she was in his arms, crying, burrowing into him, seeking a comfort he didn't know how to give. He patted her back awkwardly, and when she started to sigh, he adjusted to more of a stroke through her hair and down her back. Her sighs became more contented, and he started to feel more at ease with his attempts to comfort her.

When he felt her lips on his bare chest he realized that she had found the opening in his collar and worked his shirt open. He immediately put some space between them, but she whimpered. "Please... we need this. Show me you're alive."

He was groggy from having dozed off, and his dreams had made him receptive. "Slow down. You don't really want this," he said quietly, hoping to somehow stop what was happening. Her kisses became frenzied, and he found himself responding. He made shushing noises and tried to soothe her down, but they were both becoming more and more eager for what started to seem inevitable.

She was stronger than he expected. She finished unfastening his shirt and ran her fingers and lips all the way down his chest. His attempts to stop her became token responses and by the time she had gently pushed him to his back, he wasn't sure whether he was pushing her away or exploring the curves of her body.

She worked his trousers open and moved on top of him. Her nightgown was already hiked up and her hair formed a curtain that surrounded him with feminine essence. He had reached a point where he couldn't do anything but hope for release.

She didn't shy away from taking what would fulfill her raw need, and given the state he was in, he couldn't for the life of him do anything but provide what she needed. After a while she sighed contentedly, as his own groans surprised him.

She started breathing deeply and regularly again. He slid to the side, sure that she would wake soon and the recriminations would begin. Relaxed as this event had just made him, he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to care.

After a few minutes, he took his trousers and shirt the rest of the way off. He adjusted his shorts and slid between the sheets. There was no point in pretending it had not happened. He might as well be comfortable and, in any case, it was his bed. He was asleep before he finished pulling the covers over himself.

_A/N: This pairing is a bit of an odd duck, yet the more I think about what intersects in the lives of these two, the more I think there's something to it. I thought some of my regular readers would like to see what I've been doing when I supposedly was working on Wand Waver._

As usual, beta reader Mark Darcy has been through this with her virtual red pencil. Please feel free to drop a line and comment.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling._

January 1, 1999

She was tired and her time was short. He was irritable from the endless round of parties that demanded his presence. Neither of them meant it, but the quarrel was harsh and mean spirited.

"I'll never understand your position. It's not fair to your husband, and I'm not sure I would want that in a wife."

She reeled as though he had struck her and then looked at him with eyes that accused him of everything he had and had not ever done. "I don't think I can do this any more. I thought I would take as much of you as I could get, but now... It hurts too much, Severus, and I have other things to consider."

He turned to leave but stopped when he heard her say, quietly, "I loved him, you know. With every ounce of my being I loved him, and the night he was killed I wished they had killed me, too. But you were there to draw me out, and I've known my sweet grandson all this time, and I've had the chance to fall in love with you. I _am_ mourning my past, Severus, but I'm also mourning my future because you won't realize you're irretrievably part of it."

"Of course I'm part of it!" He half turned. "You know I l—"

"Don't say it! Please don't say it until you're ready for all of it. My heart has been through a lot in the last year and I can't take any more." With that she slipped into the hallway that lead to the kitchen. 

* * *

Late March 1998

He woke to feel lips over his breastbone. There was a female form between his arm and his chest and a mist of hair covered his face. "Oh, Ted," she whispered. "I dreamed that they killed you. My sisters came and Trixie... Oh, Ted, what would I do without you?" She wouldn't let him go so he eased up to sit against the headboard of the bed. She curled into him, and he let her tell him all about it. She never woke and simply described her story as the dream she hoped with all her heart it was.

Ted Tonks had sneaked to his house for a short visit with his wife and when he left she insisted on going with him. They had camped well together and even enjoyed their time of roughing it, but unfortunately had Apparated into an area that the Snatcher squads were watching. The Snatchers originally mistook Andromeda for Bellatrix Lestrange and were about to let them go when one of them thought to look for her Dark Mark. When Andromeda didn't have one, they were brought to the real Bellatrix, who greeted her sister by taking out her wand and killing Ted Tonks on the spot.

This had been at Malfoy Manor. Moments later, Narcissa entered the room. It took a while for her sisters to notice her. The elder was smirking and the other was crouched over the corpse. Both were hurling insults as well as jinxes and curses at each other and managed to bring up some issues that dated back to early childhood. All of that ended when the Dark Lord entered. He looked at Andromeda and smiled. He said something to Bellatrix and Narcissa about re-training the third Black sister. He said he knew exactly in whose hands to put it as he moved toward the dead man and new widow. Beyond that Andromeda chose not to remember.

Severus wasn't sure how well she understood what was real. He knew that on some level she was aware that her husband was dead, but he had no idea whether she realized with whom she had just been intimate. He could only hold her in his arms and provide what little bit of comfort he knew how to give. As she got to the end of her narrative, she yawned and fell asleep. He stayed awake a little longer. He had never had the experience of holding a woman as she slept, and though he wasn't sure it was proper, he would enjoy it now. 

* * *

He was brought starkly awake again by a hand sliding along his body. It started at his ribs and wandered down to his navel, causing him to anticipate what would happen as it got lower. Then it stopped, barely short of his hopes and wakened imagination. The hand started more gingerly feeling along his belly and he knew she had suddenly become aware that she was not in the arms of her husband. Ted Tonks had unashamedly enjoyed his wife's fine cooking, but Severus Snape had not known such a table on a regular basis. There were some decided differences in physique between the two men as a result.

When its owner established that it wasn't caressing her husband, the hand ceased its search and snatched away. She sat up and realized her nightgown was up under her arms. She quickly pulled it down and then pulled the covers up to her chin. She freed one hand to push her hair out of her face and then looked and saw him.

"Severus," she said softly.

"Do you remember?" he asked.

"I—" He watched her replay the various elements of the previous day in her mind. Looking into her eyes he could see her remember the various parts of it. Oddly enough, she remembered him first. She blushed a furious shade of red, but was too busy remembering to look away. Her fingers twitched for her wand as she recalled fighting against her older sister. Suddenly she realized that she had been huddled over the body of her husband, that he was really dead, and her whole face crumpled.

"You need a minute." He stood, getting ready to leave.

"Sev—Severus." She said his name quietly, but he saw her face. He opened his arms and she moved into them.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered. She trembled for a minute or two and then pulled away.

He cleared his throat and stepped over to his wardrobe. "I'll go down to my office, and you can get dressed. The elves will bring breakfast there."

She came into his office wearing robes that must have been borrowed from the Gryffindor Head. They were a bit long on her, but she wore them with dignity. Her hair was braided down her back, and she was clean and presentable even if she was still in a shocked state.

They sat to eat and she sipped her tea. Then she stared at her toast. "I need to get word to my daughter."

"Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall both know. They were told last night. I'm sure they'll pass the word."

"I need to be with my daughter. They loved each other so much. They used to side together against me—" She lowered her voice again. "I need to be at his funeral."

"I can't let you go, Andromeda. They'll kill you on sight and me shortly afterwards for failure to carry out my orders. It's a war."

"I have to be with her!"

"I'm sorry, but you can't. You have to stay with me. Minerva will make sure Nymphadora gets word about your husband and that you're here. Lupin will watch over Tonks."

You have to stay with me. There was too much encompassed by that. "Severus, last night, I—"

"Don't worry about it."

"I don't want you to think..."

"I think you are a woman who had a terrible shock, who needed to share some comfort."

"Share?"

"You needed comfort, Andromeda, I was here to offer it."

"But you won't let me go to my daughter."

"It's more than my life is worth, and there are other considerations."

"You can figure out how to work around all that."

"Then you're staying with me because you belong to me. The Dark Lord gave you to me."

"And you said yourself that I'm not a cat or an owl that can be given."

"You were paying more attention than I gave you credit for."

She sat in the chair he indicated. "You were very kind last night."

"You needed comfort."

She looked at him in curiosity. "You said you 'shared' it with me. Why did you need comfort?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes became quite cold and she shivered. "Don't tell anyone that you thought I was kind," he finally said.

"If I promise not to tell, will you let me go to Ted's funeral?"

"Andromeda, you grew up with Bellatrix. What do you think she will do when she catches you?"

She looked at her hands in her lap. Finally, she looked back up at him. "I've become so complacent. I was so safe with Ted. Now..." Her face flashed with an unpleasant memory. She looked back down at her hands. "Did I please you last night?"

"What kind of question is that?"

She looked toward a window. "He told my sisters... He said at Cissy's house that he would give me to you, and if I don't please you, he'll take me back... and..." She swallowed and shrugged.

"What I said last night is true between us. You're not a cat or an owl, Andromeda, to be given or taken. I think we could find a great deal of solace together if you share my bed, but only if you want it. I won't force myself on you and I'm not turning you back over to them unless you want to go."

"Then what will I do while I'm here?"

"I'm going to make you my assistant. You will stay over by that window over there while I'm in my office and you will take care of my papers and serve tea for me and do those sorts of things."

"And when you're not in your office?"

"You will be with me."

"In your rooms?"

"Yes, it was made clear to me that I need to keep an eye on you. However, the extent of our relationship is completely up to you."

"Do you care whether we—?" She couldn't look in his eye.

"You're mourning your husband. I don't expect you to fall into my arms."

"I did last night."

"Whose arms did you think you were in?"

"Ted's."

"That's as I surmised."

"But you said..."

"You were very persuasive. I'm a lonely man, Mrs. Tonks. I'm a lonely man in the middle of a war and you're—" He sighed expressively and waved his hand at her. "I'd be a fool to turn you away."

She couldn't find an answer to that and instead looked on the table. The paper was there, and she scanned the headlines. There was a picture of Ted from his days working in the Magical Transportation department. Dear, affable, lovable Ted smiled up to her from the paper. It didn't matter that it was under the headline, "Wanted Criminal Caught," or that the story dredged up the old yarn about how Ted had kidnapped her from her family.

He saw what she was looking at and concentrated on his breakfast and the Quidditch scores. There was a team in Winnipeg that appeared to be racing up the North American standings. He glanced at his companion who was tracing the outline of her husband's face in the picture. Tears were running down her face.

Somewhere in the room, one of Dumbledore's old clocks chirped, indicating that the daily round of meetings would begin, soon. Severus gulped down the remainder of his tea. "Andromeda." He actually said it kindly. He had always been less like his schoolteacher self toward her and under the circumstances was unable to be stern.

She sat up and dabbed at her eyes with a hanky. "I'm sorry. It's time to get to work, isn't it?"

"Yes. Could you summon the elf and get this cleared away? I'll just be a moment."

Severus slipped into the bedroom and watched from the door as she called the elf and worked with him to clear the breakfast dishes and table. He couldn't help but admire the swish of her robe around her hips as she waved her arms and said the charm that cleared everything up, enabling the house-elf to take everything in one trip. He remembered his two week visit in her home, watching her do the same thing at the kitchen table and the way her husband's eyes followed her. He recalled how his host would creep up behind her and rest his hands at her waist, tilting his head to place his lips on her neck. Sometimes she scolded him for getting in her way, but sometimes she turned in his arms and let him continue his affectionate caresses until they remembered they had an audience.

Severus had come back to Hogwarts last April convinced that he was smitten by the fact of her. Such witches must exist and he would be glad that they did. Watching her now and knowing how close at hand she was, he wondered if he could keep himself from touching her. He didn't want to force her; he wanted her as eager for him as she had been when he was a surrogate for her husband. Perhaps he could get through this round of meetings and the subsequent paperwork quickly. Then, perhaps--what? 

* * *

After that morning, he would never again be amazed by anything a Black did. He was well aware of the grief Andromeda was feeling, but no one else who came to his office that day could see anything but a witch who was coolly efficient. She took the parchments he signed and did something with them. He would learn that she filed them away when he was required to leave his office. She never said a word during his meetings, although she could be relied upon to remember exactly what was said when he wanted to go over a point later.

He wasn't sure exactly how, but she projected something that made the Carrows behave better as well. He glimpsed at her at the end of that meeting and saw an icy version of Bellatrix Lestrange that made him shiver involuntarily, too. It occurred to him that an Andromeda Black who became a Death Eater would have been as cold and calculating as her older sister was passionate. Working together they would have outgrown the Dark Lord and perhaps overthrown him to be something more beautiful, but also much more terrible. He found himself wishing that she could have come to Hogwarts sooner. Her assistance allowed him to get through his duties much more efficiently. The work was complete by lunch time, and he found himself enjoying a cup of coffee with her and a conversation about the day's issues.

"Today was a light day. The students go home after lunch," he told her. "They come back in two weeks and then there's a month of hard work before O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. testing. There shouldn't be too many issues that come before me in that time, but it seems that there's something new from the Dark Lord or the Ministry almost every day."

"So we're done for the day?"

"Yes."

"I don't suppose we can go to my home so that I can pick up some things—"

He was shaking his head vehemently and she stopped. "Your daughter and her husband are likely to have it staked out. In a duel, I could easily beat both of them and you in the bargain, but I would prefer not to cast hexes at a pregnant woman."

She looked dejected then, perhaps at being reminded that her grandchild would soon arrive without her to witness the event. "Well, then, can we go to Hogsmeade? I'm sure Gladrags will still take my credit. I've got to have some clothes, Severus."

He looked at her and pondered the situation. "We can go to Hogsmeade this afternoon. In fact, why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks for lunch?"

An almost smile came over her face. "Certainly." 

* * *

He watched her over their meal. Several Death Eaters walked up to the table to greet her in a manner that was almost reverent. She handled it with aplomb, yet somehow he knew it sat badly with her. There were some whom she had known before her marriage whom she greeted kindly and others whom she had never met before to whom she was polite. Yet she was not happy about the way they were treating her due to her family and blood status. She would trade it all for having her husband back. It was a relief to her when they left the inn and moved on to the boutique down the street.

The shop manager of Gladrags greeted Andromeda as royalty as soon as she was aware of her. Upon learning that Mrs. Tonks was looking to outfit herself for possibly several months, the manager was eager to help. Severus watched in boredom as she tried on several simply but well cut robes in somber shades of black and gray. She selected one set of dress robes in dark green and then a good cloak for springtime. When she turned her attention to underwear, Andromeda was surprised to see her companion step in and point out several styles he found interesting.

She took him aside. "What are you doing?" she whispered up into his ear. He was several inches taller than Ted had been and she found it disconcerting.

"Thirty minutes after we go back to the school the entire list of your purchases will be in the hands of the Dark Lord and your sisters." He made a show of nuzzling his chin around her ear as he responded.

"What is it to you? I thought you said—" He could feel the panic rise in her as she tried to interpret his behavior.

"That's your choice, but for your sake, they need to believe that we're intimate."

Her hand fluttered to her chest and he took that as a sign of her agreement. He kissed her ear and then took over the selections. He paid close attention to her and somehow knew which items crossed a certain line that she couldn't accept. Finally he was done, and she arranged the payment from her Gringott's account with the proprietor. They made further arrangements for one of the Hogwarts house-elves to come for her packages and then left. Severus couldn't stop thinking about the ivory lace nightgown he had chosen and had a difficult time remembering to place her hand within his arm as they walked. His companion seemed likewise lost in her thoughts.

As they approached the school's gates, however, she moved closer to his side. Several Dementors prowled around the gates. He slid his arm around her and moved his wand to his hand just as Amycus Carrow bounded up to them. The Death Eaters had specific plans for the return of the Hogwart's Express when this holiday was over and the professor wanted to discuss them with the Headmaster.

_A/N: Thanks again to Trickie Woo for beta reading!_

_Thanks also to Herbologist and Alabaster Princess for reviewing; it was quite welcome during the weekend when the stats were down!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I apologize in advance to the half dozen or so of you who read Chapter 2 right after it posted; it was Chapter 3 by mistake. Therefore, if this seems familiar, you might want to back up a bit and then return to this one.**

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling._

January 9, 1999

She would have chosen the Atrium of the Ministry or some back alley today, but not St. Mungo's. Anything would be better than having her mother flutter over her this way, but Poppy insisted the hospital, and Druella's spies had done their work. She would have preferred anything than to have the heart-wrenching effect of Severus's arrival, too. When she heard his voice outside the door, her heart gave a leap, but when she saw his face, it was worse than what had brought her to the hospital. _You asked for this_, she reminded herself.

"Hello," she said quietly. She turned to the woman who gave her birth. "Mother, could you give us some privacy?" That witch looked as though she might say something, but after looking into her daughter's face, she nodded and left.

Andromeda smoothed the sheet over herself. "Thank you for coming."

He rearranged his features and spoke kindly. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "The healers have given me some good pain potions. There's just this ache that comes and goes, now."

"Poppy made me come," he said.

"I'm sorry if it's a bad moment. I asked her to find you."

"It's not that I don't want to be here. I just don't think I belong here."

"We'll know for sure in a little while now, but I don't have any doubt. We've explained it to you—"

"Anna, I'm a Death Eater."

"_Former_ Death Eater."

"Yes, I'm a former Death Eater. I participated fully. I've murdered, maimed, taunted, and tortured. I've done it all. I don't see how I possibly _could_..."

"Yet somehow you have."

His answer was lost when he saw her face twist in pain. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she said, although he could tell she was lying. Her hand reached for him, and he couldn't disobey. Before he realized what was happening, he was sitting on the bed. She pressed herself up against him. He was making soothing sounds into her hair while she held his hand. He tried not to notice the tears in her eyes, but they decided him. If she needed him here, he would stay in place of the man who he thought really belonged. 

* * *

March 1998

Andromeda felt that the first full day of her widowhood had been productive if nothing else. Waking up in the arms of a man who turned out to be Severus Snape had been a bit of a shock, but she was not a Black for nothing. Clearly she and he had done something together Somehow, as it all had come flooding back, it was awkward but not horribly so. Some day she would have a chance to process everything that had happened since the Snatchers had caught them. Right now she didn't feel that she could let her guard down.

Severus had been her guest for a couple of weeks just about a year before. He had come to teach her to make Wolfsbane. She had finally accepted that Remus would be her son-in-law, or her daughter would die of a broken heart. Perhaps having a ready supply of the potion would change the werewolf's mind about his future. Andromeda wondered in passing what he would do this particular month.

Then her thoughts returned to Severus. He'd had the weight of the world upon him when he was her guest. She had done everything she knew to charm and cheer the dour wizard. In his preoccupations, he had hardly noticed her, yet she was aware of him, perhaps more than she should have been. She had been deliberately provocative on one occasion. She was putting the laundry on the line to dry and her hair was wet from recently having taken a shower. Instead of braiding it or twisting it up, she had left it free to dry in the spring sunshine. She knew she should have been ashamed; Ted used to say her hair entangled him from the first moment he had seen her. Severus was in the garden looking over some of her soothing herbs, but he never once looked at her. Andromeda sighed when he went back to Hogwarts, wishing she could have done something to distract him from his concerns, but not knowing, in truth, what more she could have done.

When Nymphadora had brought word that he had killed Dumbledore, she was horrified and then unsure. Something had not added up, but she thought she would never know what it was. All she could figure was that he already knew, when he was her guest, that he would commit this horrible crime. Yet he must have dreaded it, which confused her no end. She knew Trixie would have approached such an event with glee. Then Remus finally admitted that he wanted to marry her daughter, and the next weeks were a blur of wedding plans and issues.

She watched curiously as he handled his meetings that morning. He was quite fair with the one group that lived within the castle and firm with the other. He kept the two sides in a state of détente while managing to make the one group feel as though they ruled the roost. House pride surged in her as she realized only a Slytherin could handle things so masterfully.

When Severus slipped out of his office to attend some issue in the castle, Andromeda wondered what she should do next. She juggled the scrolls sitting in her hands and looked around the room.

"They belong in the cupboard over there."

Startled, she turned around and discovered that the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black was looking at her. He said, "There are little pigeon holes for the specific issues."

She went over to the cupboard and saw that it was as he said. She filed the parchments that she held in her hands and walked back over to the portrait.

"You're my great-great-grandfather, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what Severus is doing here?"

"Yes."

"Then what is he doing?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

Severus came back in then, and she couldn't continue the questioning of her ancestor. She turned and looked to the portrait from time to time, and he always nodded to her. She didn't recall him being quite so kind when she was a child visiting at Aunt Walburga's home. Of course, she and the other children were usually up to some form of mischief when she was at the Grimmauld Place house.

She felt so uncertain about her relationship to Severus. She knew he wanted her, but she also knew he wouldn't press her. More than that, she knew it had nothing to do with her heritage. He appreciated her as a man with a woman. He didn't fear her or her family connections, and he didn't seem to crave those connections, either. He simply wanted her and gave her the space to make her own decision. She would have to be careful. It was the sort of thing that had drawn her to Ted.

That second night she wore Poppy's nightgown again, and she had lain down on his bed, far over from the side on which he lay. He watched her, she knew. She wondered if he had eyes like a cat's that would see in the dark. She didn't wonder if he would pounce on her. He had given his word and she trusted it. She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

The Dark Lord was waiting for her there. She saw his red eyes gleam, and then she heard Bellatrix's cackle of delight. She sank to the floor and found Ted, his sightless eyes accusing her of being the cause of his death. She shook her head and tried to get away, but Narcissa was holding her shoulders, forcing her to look between Ted's body and the Dark Lord's gaze. She tried to get away, but Narcissa was holding her and Bellatrix was pointing her wand.

In an instant, she was pressed to a strong chest. She could hear his heartbeat under her ear, and she could feel his calm breathing. "Andromeda, it's just a dream."

She curled into him in gratitude. "Not entirely," she answered.

"No, I suppose not."

She felt so cold with horror and he was so warm and strong. She burrowed right into his warmth, but it was not enough. She ran her hands up and around his shoulders, pressing herself into him.

"I need you."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Severus."

He went very still and cleared his throat. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes." She whispered it and it sounded small.

"Because I won't be able to stop once this starts."

"I'm sure I want this." _What did it matter,_ she thought to herself. She had slipped into this unreality, and she might as well play it out.

It was nothing like the instinctual coupling of the night before. She could feel an untold well of passion rise to the surface within him, yet he was as gentle and careful of her as though she was a blushing bride on her wedding night. He started with delicate kisses that teased her into wanting deeper ones. As he kissed her, his careful hands caressed the sides of her face and ran through her hair. Before long, she found herself whimpering with a wish for more.

More came in the form of his hands touching her through the nightgown as his kisses continued. Then it all changed as he started kissing her chin and neck. He worked his way down and then she felt the heat of his moist breath through the batiste. She arched her back, wordlessly begging, yet he didn't seem to notice. He was still touching her through the nightgown and now kissing her through it, too.

He finally reached the hem and slid his hands up, along the backs of her legs as she moaned her need. His hands traveled up the curve of her hips and waist as she slid her toes along his calves. He pushed the nightgown the rest of the way off and managed to trap her hands over her head in it. It gave him a chance to explore.

He moved all the way down her body, carefully seeking out her secret places. Somehow his clothing was removed, although Andromeda wasn't sure how it happened. It seemed to her that neither of his hands left her the whole time he was making her desperate for what finally came. He grunted out a word that she barely heard. She paid it no thought as she caught her breath.

When she was able to speak again, she whispered, "Thank you."

His answer was to pull her close and kiss her temple, nudging her hair out of the way with his nose. She caught a glimpse of his eyes. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought he looked stunned. Since she did know better, she decided it was a trick of the light and settled into his arms, now able to sleep without dreaming.

He had breakfast brought to the bedroom the next morning. She pulled a dressing gown around herself and sat on the bed, watching him carefully. He seemed as cheerful as a man in a castle surrounded by Dementors was likely to be. It was the best moment to ask, and she needed to know.

"Is Lily someone special to you?"

His spoon fell into his porridge with a splat. He sighed, took a napkin, and started dabbing at his nightshirt. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Andromeda put down her toast and started twisting the napkin in her lap with both hands. "I heard you mention 'Lily' right then at the end of—just after—well, last night. I never specifically asked you if you had a wife or girlfriend... I don't want to intrude, but it seems I must ask. I don't want to be in place of the woman you should be with..." She looked up and saw nothing in his face, so she stumbled to a halt.

He sighed and pinched his nose as if he was getting a headache. She had an urge to soothe it away. He stopped looking quite as irritated as he did when she first asked, and she relaxed, but not much.

"No, I have no wife, nor a girlfriend or any romantic entanglements whatsoever, except now you, I suppose. I can understand your wanting to know, but you might have asked before you threw yourself at me, if it worried you."

She knew she deserved that and blushed.

His face became a little softer as he continued. "Lily grew up in the same town I did. We were good friends and arrived at Hogwarts together. She sorted Gryffindor; I sorted Slytherin. She grew out of me, but I've never forgotten her. She's been gone for a long time." He took a deep breath. "So you have no fear of a witches' duel over me."

"But you still remember her," said Andromeda. "That's quite romantic."

"And foolish nonsense."

She reached to put a hand at the side of his face. "That's why we share comfort, isn't it? We've both lost someone."

She took her wand and Banished the dishes to a desk in the room. She cleared the mess from his nightshirt before sliding it up and over his head. Then she pushed Severus to his back and made love to him as sweetly and thoroughly as he had done to her. She touched and kissed every inch of his body and nearly started again with his lips when he gently pushed her over onto her back and showed her how completely she had aroused him.

That night, he blew out the candles, wondering how her nightmares would affect her this time. He didn't wonder long. She came out of the bedroom and slipped out of her bath robe to reveal the ivory lace nightgown.

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I'll figure it all out some other time. Nothing about any of this makes any sense. My whole world is a complete mess. Right now I'm scared and frightened... and you make me feel safe."

He traced the lace of the nightgown as he looked at her. She didn't shy away. Instead she slid her hand under the tie of his dressing gown and tugged. He couldn't turn back if he tried at that point. He pulled her close and kissed her. Most of his life didn't make sense to him, but right now this witch seemed to fit. 

* * *

There was little enough to do during the holiday. Severus worked through various scrolls and documents for the completion of the school year and preparation for the next one. Andromeda assisted him as much as she could and spent the rest of her hours mourning her husband. Severus was surprisingly perceptive about knowing when to leave her alone when she needed it, or when to hold her and soothe her when she needed some sort of human contact.

One night the Dark Lord came to visit. He summoned Severus to the gates of the school and then sent him back to the castle. Severus arrived back in the Headmaster's quarters and instructed Andromeda to put a meal together. When their guest arrived back in the Headmaster's office, he found a well set table and a quiet witch to pour the tea.

"I'm almost disappointed," said the Dark Lord, "that you've done so well at re-educating our lost sheep, here. I was anticipating what we would do if you failed, but you have succeeded."

Severus glanced at her and thanked his master for the compliment. He dismissed her to the bedroom. The Dark Lord was almost giddy tonight. He didn't want her exposed to the type of discussion experience told him to expect. It was a good evening, but it left him concerned when Voldemort was so cheerful about anything.

The students came back, but there was little change in the pattern they had set. The days simply became longer as there were additional issues to deal with in discipline. Andromeda watched Severus temper the fates of several children as he instructed one or the other of the Carrows to remember that these were magical children and needed for the Dark Lord's plans. As he sent her to bed ahead of him some nights, she found herself wondering again about his ultimate goal in the ongoing conflict.

One morning late in April, Severus received an owl. He opened it, glanced at the contents, and passed it to Andromeda. "This is really for you."

She took it curiously, saying, "It's dated weeks ago," and read it quickly.

_Andromeda,_

I don't know if this owl will find you, but I don't know how else to contact you. Teddy Remus Lupin arrived safely. Dora is fine. She misses her mother and hopes you are well.

Remus

"Oh," she responded. "I'm a grandmother."

"Congratulations," he said quietly.

"It's amazing." She remembered the joy she and Ted had felt when they learned of this child. Now everything was different, but it was still a joyful occurrence. It was just the change in circumstances. She had wished to be with her daughter when this child was born, and she had always hoped that somehow Severus would let her go. Now that was impossible, and her life had taken on new complications.

"Is something the matter?"

She looked up at him, blushed, and looked away. "It's just so odd and awkward, with... Never mind."

_A/N: Thanks again to Mark Darcy for beta reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit is the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

September 1998

He stood in front of the bed and looked in the mirror as she knelt behind him with her chin on his shoulder and tied his white tie. She did it just right and then brushed at his shoulders and straightened the hang of his tails. "You look perfect. I'll never understand how you came to be so frequent a guest at Malfoy Manor that you have your own tailcoat, yet you've never learned to tie a bow tie."

"All the better to have a pretty woman do it for me." He turned around to peer at her. "Why aren't you dressed?"

Her shame showed in the redness of her face. "I was asked not to go."

"Not invited? Why do you suppose that is?"

"Witches in my situation aren't received in polite company. It's a bad influence on the daughters. If I were married..."

"We've been all over that and I've explained why it cannot be." She looked chastised and he slid his hand under her chin in a comforting gesture. "You've done nothing wrong. I don't see why they think what they think."

"Because everyone in Wizarding England knows how to count except, it seems, for Severus Snape."

"It doesn't matter what it adds up to. I know what is and isn't possible."

The bleak look in her eyes simply got bleaker. He had a thought.

"What about me? If they think that about you, I must be considered just as bad."

"You're a hero, and quite eligible, not to mention you look magnificent in formal dress." She bit her lip hard and blinked.

"I don't think I should go if you're not going."

She looked worried, then. "You have to go. They're expecting you."

"What do you want from me, Andromeda?"

"I don't know," she whispered. She lay on her side and curled up with her back toward him. "You need to go so you won't be late."

He reached his hand to touch her, but something about the set of her spine warned him off. He consulted his pocket watch, grabbed his gloves and opera cloak, and left.

His return roused her from an achy sleep that had done nothing to dispel the effects of the tears she had shed while he was gone. He sat next to her on the bed, barely able to control his happiness. She saw that she had been right to make him go. She was perhaps equally right to have stayed behind.

She forced herself to be cheerful. "Let's see it."

"You knew?"

"Why do you think I pushed at you so hard to go?" She knelt up on the bed and slid her hands under his cloak along the lapels of his jacket. "I thought there would be a medal."

"It came on a sash, if you can believe it." The cloak came off with a swirl and he unbuttoned his jacket to display the bright gold and violet sash with the Order of Merlin attached to it. She slid her fingers under the medal to get it better into the light.

"First Class," she gloated. "You're a great man among wizards, Severus. Everything you ever wanted to prove has come true tonight. Congratulations."

"Not entirely everything I want," he answered. He slid his hands along her waist. "I wish I could believe—"

She put her hand over his lips. "Please let's not fight about it again. It hurts too much. I love you, and if this is all we can have, I'll take it."

"Some day I want it, Andromeda."

She shook her head. "Please don't tell me of someday. I can only think as far as January. After that, a lot of things might or might not happen. Right now, let us have as much of us as we can."

He didn't know how to dispel her mood, so he kissed her, tasting salt on her lips. Her hands reached for his bow tie, undoing her own handiwork. Within minutes his entire tuxedo lay forgotten on the floor, including the sash with the shiny new Order of Merlin, First Class. 

* * *

April 1998

They were invited to Malfoy Manor for a family dinner a while after the Dark Lord's visit. Andromeda wore the green dress robes and in the eyes of the wizard looking at her, she looked lovely. He was becoming more and more impressed by her self assurance. Yet tonight she looked at him and he could see the worry in her eyes.

"You have nothing to fear. You're part of a family that's practically royalty."

"Trixie killed my husband. She tried to kill me and my daughter..."

"She will do nothing to you tonight except smile. This is your début as the returning member of the Black family."

"Severus, there's something..." She trailed off when she saw that he was fumbling through a drawer in his wardrobe. He looked around the door inquisitively. "Never mind."

He went back to his rummaging and finally said, "Here it is!" He came out of the wardrobe holding a small gilt box. He handed it out to her. "Your neck looks bare."

She opened it to find a gorgeous set of pearls with an emerald clasp. "It's—I can't accept this."

"Please?" He looked so sweet for once that she couldn't resist. He stood behind her and fastened them. "They were my mother's, and they're perfect with your robes."

"Just for tonight, then," she answered. "You will want these for someone else, I'm sure." She became thoughtful.

He was looking at his watch and missed her expression. "We need to get going." He settled her cloak over her shoulders and led her to the fireplace.

When they emerged at Malfoy Manor, Andromeda found herself face to face with Narcissa and Bellatrix. In a back corner stood another woman who came toward the fireplace.

"I want to see my lost daughter!" Druella Rosier Black pushed Rudolphus and Lucius aside and took Andromeda's hands, looking her up and down critically. "You still have your looks, my dear. How have you been?"

Perhaps Mother would want to know about her great-grandson. Andromeda took a deep breath. "Well, my daughter—"

"Never mind about your past indiscretions, dear. I want to know how you've been at Hogwarts, since Snape took you in hand."

She took a deep breath and willed the flash of anger away. "Severus has been most kind and has treated me quite well."

"The Dark Lord saw you and said you were much improved. He encouraged your sisters to bring you back into the family fold."

"He said...?" Andromeda let her voice drift off and thought quickly. "I'm surprised that the Dark Lord had time to think of me."

"So am I," put in the elder sister. "I think he was kind to you because you're my sister."

"I'm sure that was it," said Andromeda, glad to have a safe port to sail into.

Dinner was longer than anything Andromeda had ever experienced. She was seated at the right of her younger brother in law. He was charming and she tried in vain to be equally so.

"You must visit more often, Andromeda. Your younger sister has missed you more than you can know."

"Really?" Her eyes strayed down the table to where the hostess sat and looked nervously over everything.

"Yes. You haven't had any wine. You really should drink it."

"I tasted it, but I'm really not sure..."

"Drink up. The wine with the next course is even better."

He plied her with compliments and then started inserting hints about her position within the family. Toward the end he told her that she would be expected to marry the Death Eater of the Dark Lord's choosing within the next several months.

"I thought... Severus..."

"He may well be my choice for you, Miss Black, but the final choice will be mine," the Dark Lord said from the doorway. Everyone instantly rose and bowed. Andromeda followed suit. "Come closer, Andie, if I may call you that."

Her legs felt like gelatin, but she managed it. Under the strength of his gaze she sank to her knees. He looked into her eyes and rifled through her emotions. "Ah, another just as your sisters. I knew the Blacks were the garden of my strength." He looked into her eyes and found her deepest secret. "A garden indeed, Andromeda. You please me, and I believe you please Severus even more." He released her and the party broke up soon afterwards.

Severus undressed her quietly that night, sensing that she was troubled. He wrapped her in the sheets and brushed out her hair. His long fingers against her scalp felt so soothing that she dozed as she sat against him.

"Andromeda."

"Hm?"

"You did well tonight."

"Thank you."

"If I might be so bold to mention it, though, Lucius was a little offended that you didn't drink his wine."

"I tasted every one of them and complimented him on them. I just didn't feel like drinking tonight. I was so nervous, and my head aches a little, I guess."

"Does this help at all?"

"Yes, thank you."

"What about this?" He turned her and kissed her.

"Oh, much better."

He pulled her into his arms then and kissed her until she was dizzy. Then he simply looked at her for a moment, his dark eyes alive with passion. She spoke her second deepest secret into his ear as his hands slid along her back. He stopped for a moment and looked into her eyes. A look of surprise crossed his face and then he started again.

"I don't know what to say," he told her later as his fingertips traced the lines of her face.

"You don't have to say anything."

"Andromeda, I don't have room for love in my life."

"Lucius said that I'm supposed to marry one of the Death Eaters."

"I doubt it will be me. I'll always be a half-blood."

"Will they want me after I've—everything?"

"They're fools if they don't."

She turned her head away from him. "I thought we—since we—and then there's... I don't want to give this up."

"There's a long time before it's likely to come up," he answered. He leaned over and placed small kisses all along her face. "Maybe by the time it happens, you'll be tired of me." She opened her mouth and he put his finger over her lips. "Speaking of tired, we have a breakfast date. If I know Narcissa, and I do, she took your offer seriously and has already sent an owl. Your nephew will be here sooner than you think."

She snuggled into his arms, wondering if it was possible for her ever to tire of him, and of this. In another life, she had been a cherished wife, but that had been another time. She was fast learning that the life she had with Ted was impossible and had only happened because of the strength of his will. Tonight she learned that what she had with Severus would end at some point and she would be turned over to some other wizard. It would get complicated fast, now. She forced herself to breathe deeply. That was a problem for tomorrow.

It seemed only an instant before Severus was nudging her with his nose and speaking into her ear. "It's time to get up."

She lifted her head from the bed and moaned. "I don't know if I can." She flopped down.

"Come now. You handled your sisters and mother and this is just your nephew. You can handle a seventeen year old boy." He kissed her and slid his arm around her. "Look at how well you manage me." He sat her up and prepared for his day.

She got up and dressed a bit less quickly, being careful of her head and tummy. Somehow she would get through this breakfast, she would charm her nephew, and she would make it through the day's work. When it was all over, she would need to broach a subject with Severus. She had no idea how he would respond, but the time had come to discuss it, especially since the Dark Lord had discovered it.

Severus and Draco were in the Headmaster's office, sitting at the table brought out for breakfast, when she arrived. They stood when she arrived and Draco held her chair for her as she sat.

"Thank you, Draco."

"I trust you found my parents in good health last night?"

"Yes, they seemed quite well, and your grandmother, also. Mother couldn't stop bragging about you. Your father tells me you're the star of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Tell me about it."  
Draco looked at the Headmaster, who nodded, and started describing that year's Quidditch cup standings. Andromeda smiled and nodded, commenting about the parents of the current students as she remembered their skills at the game. Fifteen minutes passed pleasantly and sipping tea with a generous amount of sugar seemed to settle her stomach.

He started asking questions about his mother and Aunt Bella as children and she told him a few stories of the days before Bellatrix got married. She had him smiling over an impression of his mother at the age of five, complaining about her dolls not having functional wands.

Breakfast arrived. Andromeda looked at the steaming dishes on the table and swallowed hard. When the smells started to hit her, all of her self control was lost. She put her hand over her mouth and ran to the nearest bathroom.

As she finished retching, she looked up to see Severus standing in the doorway. He stepped into the room to get a washcloth and dampened it in the sink. As he dabbed at her face, he asked quietly, "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine now."

"Are you sure? Maybe you caught something."

"It's not like that."

"Maybe there was something you ate last night..."

"Severus." Something in her tone of voice made him stop. When she was sure she had his full attention, she looked into his eyes and continued. "I've known this for several days, and now the Dark Lord saw it when he was looking through my thoughts last night. Severus, I'm almost positive that I'm pregnant."

He just looked at her for a moment. Then he was a flurry of motion. He scooped her up and carried her toward the bedroom, saying over his shoulder, "Draco, please go to the Infirmary and ask Madam Pomfrey to come to my quarters."

_A/N: The inspiration of this story was an unused prompt from the Severus' Shorts LJ Community for the Short-Shorts challenge: A child is born on Severus's birthday and he doubts that it is his._

Trickie Woo was quite kind to beta read this.


	5. Chapter 5

_The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 8, 1999

Teardrops fell into the dishwater even as she cursed herself for weakness. Seven days. It had been seven days since she had last seen him. Since the day in March that she had been brought to his office, she hadn't gone this much time without him. It made her ache. She rubbed her belly. Being almost two weeks overdue didn't help much, either.

Nymphadora had been late, but somehow it wasn't a problem. She and Ted had enjoyed all of the different tricks and wives' tales they heard for bringing on labor. Those things weren't an option in this case. Severus refused to believe that the baby was his, and Andromeda had gotten tired of trying to explain it, and now he was gone.

She finished the lunch dishes just as Arabella brought Teddy in. "Nap time is all over. He's got new nappies and he's bright and ready to play with his grandmother," said the Squib.

"I'll take him, now," said Andromeda. "You've done so much of the work today."

"I don't mind, you know, dear."

"Thank you. I'll take my little man, here, into the drawing room."

She set the little boy on the floor and sat on the couch, watching him crawl around. He crawled to her and lifted himself on the edge of the couch. "Mumumumumub," he said.

"I'm Grandmother," she replied, smiling down to him. For some reason, she had a hard time focusing on him right then.

"Bah bah bah bah bah."

He walked along the side of the couch, holding it with his hands as he went. Andromeda smiled at him and wanted to say something, but suddenly she felt all funny. It was hard to breathe for a minute. The moment passed and she relaxed. Teddy got to the end of the couch and was reaching for the cloth hanging over the edge of an end table.

"Oh, no you don't, little wizard." She chuckled and turned him around, setting him to stand at the side of the coffee table. He cruised along the edge of that and around to the side near the couch. Andromeda felt relaxed and content as she watched him learn about his world.

"Mum mum mub," he said, holding his hands up to her. His hair turned bright blue and she couldn't resist. She started to lift him up when an actual pain hit her. "Mrs..."

It was all she could do to set the baby down, which caused him to wail, his hair turning bright shades of orange and red as he yelled. That brought Arabella to the room. She took one look at Andromeda and picked Teddy up. She went into the kitchen and used the Floo to call upon Poppy.

* * *

April 30, 1998

"Stop pacing, Severus. It won't make me any more sure of what the situation is. You might as well sit."

Poppy conjured a chair for Severus to sit in. She sat by Andromeda's side and started examining her. The patient gave a small yelp when the mediwitch started the internal exam, causing Severus to growl.

"It's fine, Severus, I just didn't expect it," said the patient.

"I can't say I expected it, either."

"Do you mean the baby?"

"What kind of a man takes his wife on a camping trip, Death Eaters casting hexes over their heads, when she's pregnant?" He stood and started pacing again.

"I know this is uncomfortable, but try to breathe evenly, dear," said Poppy as she pushed on Andromeda's tummy.

"I wasn't pregnant when I was with Ted."

"You must have known you could become so. Why would he take such a risk with you? Why would any man as besotted with a woman as he was with you put that woman, _pregnant_, in danger?"

"Severus, I haven't been pregnant in twenty years. I had Nymphadora and several miscarriages. Ask Poppy—she was there. There was no possibility of pregnancy when I was with Ted."

"Obviously you were wrong." He folded his arms and looked at her in a way she had only seen him look at students and the professors he despised. He never looked at her in this way, and it hurt.

"It was twenty years, Severus. I was convinced that I just couldn't. I never dreamed it was an issue, so I didn't even think of it when we—I've spent the last week realizing that it must have been Ted who couldn't."

"You were clearly mistaken about both of you."

Her voice was a little choked. "We tried. Ten years we tried to give Nymphadora a little sister or brother. First there were the miscarriages, and then not even that, and after a while we just stopped trying. We never did anything to prevent pregnancy either. I assure you, Severus, if we were able to have a child this spring, we would have had any number of them long before now."

He was unconvinced and his face clearly said so. Andromeda bit her lip and looked away from him. "Poppy, can you estimate when the baby was conceived?"

The mediwitch laughed. "I haven't confirmed to you that you are yet." She looked at her audience. Andromeda was suddenly unsure, and Severus looked impatient. "Congratulations, Andromeda, you're going to have a baby." She went to a desk and did some calculations on a parchment. Severus sat down again while they waited. Then she named a date that Andromeda remembered.

_They had walked near the lake on a mild day. It was during the holiday and the students were away. On a whim, he had turned and removed the fastenings from her hair, causing it to flutter in the breeze._

"Severus! It will get in an awful snarl!"

"Do you know how beautiful you are right now?"

She looked up at him and felt beautiful. He leaned down and kissed her, his hands running through her hair. She looked up at him again and saw him framed by the blue sky and the fresh air and smiled with a genuine smile for the first time in months. Without any word they both sank to the ground, unfastening one cloak to lie upon and the other to cover themselves. Within moments they were making love in the afternoon sunshine. When it was over he picked a daisy that was near her head and traced her face with it. She had never seen quite the look that was on his face. It was almost carefree.

Later that night he had combed the tangles that had gotten into her hair. It was a prelude to more lovemaking. The next morning had brought its own difficulties and Severus had returned to his usual demeanor, but Andromeda had found her heart touched by the winsome man who played with her hair and tossed flowers into her lap.

"Is that the earliest?" she said.

"It's most likely, but it could be anytime after about three days before." It was the day she had first worn the ivory nightgown, two days after she had come to Hogwarts.

"You see, Severus, it was after I came here. I wasn't mistaken about Ted."

"You are mistaken about me." He got up and left.

Andromeda was confused and a little hurt. "What do you suppose he meant, Poppy?"

"Perhaps he doesn't want the child. He's a Death Eater, after all."

"The Dark Lord found out about it last night, and _he_ seemed delighted."

"Have you thought about what you're going to do?"

"I've spent a week thinking of almost nothing else. This is my baby. I hope to start him or her on a long and happy life. Nymphadora might find it a little odd to have a younger brother or sister who's so young, I suppose, but this is simply how it happened."

Poppy gave her some advice and admonitions and left. Andromeda stayed in the bedroom all day. She ate a light lunch and dinner. In between she read some books, looked out the windows and sighed. She went to bed early, weeping over her newfound love and child, then took a moment to mourn again for the charmed life she had led before. In her youth Ted had always been there, and as a result she had never known unrequited love or the pain of lost love. Now there was no Ted and clearly she couldn't rely upon Severus in the same way.

* * *

Severus went into his office and found Draco, who was calmly eating his breakfast and acting as though he hadn't been straining his ears for every word. "Don't pretend you don't know. I know you better than that. You heard everything."

"Not everything. Is it yours or the Mudblood's?" asked Draco around some sausage. "Because if it's half-blood, Aunt Bella knows a hag..."

Severus suddenly became aware of a new danger for Andromeda. He couldn't decide where he wanted to stand in all of this, but he couldn't let her suffer either and she wanted this baby. "She says it's not her husband's." He remembered what she had told him and a part of the conversation from the evening before came to mind. "The Dark Lord is pleased."

Draco grunted in agreement and finished his juice. "I had better get to class, then. There's no telling what the detention will be for tardiness this week." He wiped his face with a napkin, picked up his bag of books, and left.

Poppy came through the office at that point. "Try not to argue with her. She's in much better condition than when she first arrived, but she's still in a fragile state. She's still mourning her husband, regardless of whatever the relationship she has with you is, and pregnancy has always been hard for her."

"She said she's had some miscarriages. Are there any particular dangers she should avoid?"

"I would put Death Eaters high on the list, but no. In every case, the child she lost was simply not right. She isn't particularly old, but her age doesn't help matters, either."

The mediwitch left, and an emptiness filled the room. Severus realized that he was used to the presence of the woman in this office, now. He pondered the situation as he stared at cold eggs and toast.

"Well?" asked a voice over his shoulder.

"When I want an opinion, old man, I'll ask for one."

"Congratulations on your impending fatherhood."

"I'm not going to be a father, Albus."

"Have I misunderstood the nature of your relationship with Andromeda?"

"I'm a Death Eater. How can I possibly take part in causing life?"

"The same way that Narcissa and Lucius did, and the Notts and Crabbes and Goyles, and many other families."

"It's not the same."

The portrait sighed. "It's exactly the same, Severus, but I won't argue the point with you."

"If there's any question about the father..."

"Is there?"

"Not in my mind. If others come to the same conclusion I did, the child could be in danger."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I believe I do."

Dumbledore looked at him for a moment. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your last task for me, Severus, I think I can approve. That last task is critical, though. Don't let the boy down. And, if you can manage to watch over the students here for as long as possible, that would be best as well."

Severus sighed. "Of course."

During his meetings that morning, he learned just how much he had come to depend upon the witch who stood quietly in the corner and made sure his papers were in order. During lunch he discovered how he had started to enjoy the companionship of a pretty witch over a meal. At dinner time he realized that he missed her and the way she smiled at him from time to time.

He left the dishes for the house-elves to clear up and approached his bedroom. There was a candle on his nightstand and she had laid out a nightshirt and dressing gown for him. He wondered if she was looking after his comfort or leaving him a subtle hint. He prepared for bed and sat down heavily near her. She opened her eyes and he saw how wet her eyelashes were.

"I think we should get married."

A small smile went across her face. "Then you realize the baby is yours?"

He shook his head. "No, I can't have children."

"Oh." She thought a moment. "But it can't be Ted's; it has to be yours."

"No, Andromeda. I can't have children. I'm a Death Eater."

"I don't see why that matters. Plenty of Death Eaters have children. Look at my younger sister."

"I simply cannot. Somehow it must be Tonks's child."

She knew he was wrong, but she also knew she would never convince him. "Why do you want to marry me if you're so sure?"

"Draco seemed to think that if the child is half-blood, the Dark Lord or your sister will want to kill it. If I recognize it as mine, there's a good chance that they won't do anything. The Dark Lord seemed pleased last night."

"Yes," said Andromeda absently.

"I do care for you. I shouldn't have let myself, because I knew that they would just take you away and give you to someone else, but this changes that. I've come to care for you and appreciate your presence in my life. If we marry, I will try to be a good husband."

"I—that's kind of you," she said with soft irony. "Do I have to give you an answer right away?"

"Not immediately, but soon would be good." He reached to pull her close. "The Dark Lord was right about one thing. You please me. I missed you, today. I missed your efficiency and your companionship. I greatly missed this." He started kissing her, then, a kiss she felt move deep through her body so that surely their baby felt it. A tingle started within her that she had to obey. She leaned up into his kiss and before much time passed, the dressing gown and nightshirt that she had laid out for him were on the floor along with her nightgown. They found other ways to keep themselves warm.

_A/N: Thanks, as always to Trickie Woo for beta reading!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling._

January 9, 1999

The pain eased and her hold on him lessened. "Thank you," she whispered.

He brushed a stray curl from her face and kissed her head.

"How have you been? What have you been doing?" She sounded over-eager for him and hated herself for it.

"I've been missing you. Whatever happens today, I don't want to be away from you anymore."

She smiled. "I want to be with you, too."

He continued to hold her and a few minutes later a new contraction struck. She whimpered and he held her, rubbing her back.

Druella picked this moment to come back into the room, followed by Narcissa. They looked at Severus and glared at him. Andromeda's mother stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips, and remarked, "I didn't think unmarried men were allowed in here."

"She asked for me. Did she ask for you?"

"She didn't need to ask for me! I'm her mother; of course I came!"

"I'm sure she found that quite comforting when Nymphadora was born all those years ago."

Druella Black's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. Another wizard or witch might have found it menacing, but not the wizard she faced. She tried to stare him down and found herself cowed instead.

Andromeda looked up in fear and lost her breath. Panic filled her face as Severus tried to get her to calm down.

"Please don't leave me."

He smiled as he brushed tendrils of hair out of her face. "Never again."

* * *

May 1, 1998

They had barely gotten seated at breakfast when Alecto Carrow came storming up to Snape's office. "Headmaster, have you heard? Harry Potter has broken out of Gringotts!"

"I take that to mean he also broke _in_ to the bank?" Severus asked drily.

"What'll we do?"

"Unless the caverns of Gringotts have extended the hundreds of miles that would bring them within the walls of Hogwarts, we will have our breakfast and teach our classes," Severus said, sternly. "Get back to your duties, or I'll have to discuss it with our master. In the meanwhile, I'm having a private breakfast to discuss important school business with my secretary. I do not wish to be interrupted again. Is that understood?"

"Oh, yes, of course," the nominal teacher said while slinking back. The Black witch was looking at her with a glance that would freeze skin, as well. Professor Carrow left the office quickly.

"This is likely to be the day, Severus," said the portrait directly behind the Headmaster's desk. "If Harry went to Gringotts it means he learned that something that he needed to find was there. The snake is on the list and Vol—Tom—knows it."

"Are you so doddering in that picture frame, even, that you failed to notice our audience?"

Andromeda gasped. Suddenly she realized the truth behind the "meetings" Severus often had after sending her to prepare for bed. It was odd that even the portrait of Dumbledore would speak so... so... sociably with his murderer.

"Not at all, Severus," said the portrait chidingly. "In weighing the entire situation, including the fact that the game is about to be played, the witch is soon to become your wife and carries your child—"

"It's not my child." Andromeda had forgotten for a while that this source of discord existed. Her heart plummeted just then.

"Be that as it may, Severus, secrecy around Andromeda seems to be an unnecessary luxury at the moment."

"I don't agree and in any case, you've already given me your directions and my plans are in place. You need not frighten the witch. She and I have much to discuss as it is."

"Such as?" Andromeda herself asked this question.

He smiled and reached for her hand. "I thought you might like to get married this weekend. I had thought to send you shopping for whatever you feel you need today, but if Gringotts has been broken into, I don't think you should leave Hogwarts."

"Aren't you presuming upon my acceptance?"

"Will you?" He looked at her, and for the first time that morning he was her Severus, the one who pulled her closer just as he fell asleep at night and the one who woke her in the morning by pushing her hair out of her face with his nose and kissing her ear.

"Of course." She smiled as he squeezed her hand.

"We shall see what today may bring. If nothing happens, you may shop tomorrow, perhaps with your younger sister, and we will still plan for this weekend."

"What if something does happen?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Hopefully my colleagues in the Dark Lord's organization won't be standing near it, casting blasting curses, at the time."

Andromeda watched Severus carefully during his morning meetings. He fulfilled his duties with a certain cheerfulness she had never quite seen before. It was nothing like the way he behaved with her. There was no real happiness behind it. Perhaps the right word was _resigned_. A chill started to form in her heart as she recognized that he was expecting some fate that day. To further her worry, he was particular about making sure his desk was perfectly cleared and all outstanding issues were resolved.

After lunch, he took her hand and led her to the bedroom. "I'm going to spend some time with the witch," he said to the office. "You know what to do."

The portraits made positive responses and before Andromeda had a chance to ask, she was enveloped by Severus's robes as he put his arms around her and kissed her. In the back of her mind she recognized that sort of kiss. She had been kissed that way, before. She opened her mouth to say something but he kissed her again, unfastening her hair with one hand and working at her robe with the other. Rational thought left her as he steered her toward the bed.

A while later, he tucked her close to his body and simply stared at her. She looked at him and pondered the way they had just made love, as though they were trying to cram a lifetime into those few minutes. Whatever went with the resignation in the office had started to creep into his face. Suddenly she felt a need to settle things between them.

"It must seem odd, that I would come to your bed so soon after Ted died."

"Do you feel odd about it?"

"That's the strangest part. I don't feel odd at all. Ted and I lived in this enchanted little world where none of that mattered. The only enemy he had in the world was Dolores Umbridge. I guess she finally got her revenge.

"It had to end, I suppose. It was too unreal to last forever. I wanted to die, too, but Trixie threatened to hurt his body. I couldn't let her, but she was always better than me at dueling. She still is, but at least I kept her from that sort of mischief. The Dark Lord came and said they should take me to you.

"That night I hoped you were Ted, but deep inside I knew it was you. It was as though I had stepped into another reality. This with you exists now, and whether it's seemly or not, it's what we are."

He was very quiet, and she wasn't sure if he was awake. She shifted slightly to see that his eyes were looking at her. He smiled in a way that didn't go all the way to his eyes and spoke quietly.

"I remember the first time I saw you. You were one of the seventh-year prefects and you had so much power, and yet... My only friend was sorted to Gryffindor and the other kids didn't want to talk to me because I was a true half-blood. The others in that situation at least had two magical parents. Do you remember?"

She blushed. "Not really, I admit."

"You came to where we were all standing and quietly told them, "Stuff it." Then you put your hand on my arm and pointed to the boys' dorms."

"Oh, I do remember. The ringleader was one of those Prince cousins of yours. Edwina has always been a bit of a bitch. Trixie and I figured it was being stuck with that name."

"I watched you handle similar conflicts in the same way. I was amazed, although I couldn't have articulated it then. I had never seen anyone who had as much power as you had—a Black and a prefect—who didn't use that power to humiliate and subjugate others. Then I noticed the professors and a few other people who were the same way.

"School sorted itself out. I spent as much time as possible with Lily, but as the years went on, we drifted further and further apart. Finally I made a mistake and she never forgave me. One night, a couple of years after we left school, we ran into each other and had a couple of drinks. One thing led to another and a couple of hours later we were in bed together. She was horrified by what we had done, although I didn't force her or coerce her, and I was too foolish to know how to handle it.

"Being inexperienced before then, I didn't think about protection, but when I saw her again, I asked her about whether there was any possibility of a child. She took one look at me and said, 'Of course not. You can't father children, Severus, you're too lost to the Dark Arts.' She was right."

"That's simply not true!" Andromeda was furious at the faceless Lily just then.

He kissed her and squeezed her to him. "I'm detecting a Hufflepuff-like loyalty within you right now."

"I married one and gave birth to another. Some of it must have rubbed off."

"Well, that was the last time I was ever close enough to talk to Lily. The following fall she married James Potter and the next time I saw her, she was pregnant."

"Lily _Evans_?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I met her once."

"Of course. Now you're going to believe your cousin's story about everything, aren't you?"

"Why should I? I actually knew him."

"By which you mean—?"

"I heard all about 'that awful Snape,' but I had a different impression from seeing you around the common room. Besides, a great many of us are beastly creatures until we're into our twenties. That's why they call it growing up. Sirius was a lovely boy when he was with me, but I found some of the things he bragged about to be distasteful."

"Do you know that time last year, teaching you to make Wolfsbane, was the best two weeks of my life?"

"You seemed so sad. I did everything I could to make it pleasant for you without intruding."

"You reminded me what I want to save."

"Which side are you on, and how will that side save it?" She was genuinely curious.

He couldn't answer, not yet. Instead, he leaned down to kiss her. Andromeda returned the kiss and it was a long moment before they stopped.

He cleared his throat and looked toward a window. "After Lily was pregnant with Potter's child, I took some information to the Dark Lord. Information that I hoped would guarantee my place in his service and would grant me the power to perhaps have her for my own one day. I still hoped, even then.

"It blew up in my face. That information was ultimately the cause of her death, proving what she said. I'm incapable of giving life, only death."

"I don't believe it." He sighed and she hastened to say, "All right, I do believe the facts of your story. You took the information, and the Dark Lord used it as a reason to kill the Potters. You didn't cause her death, though. Sirius always felt he was the cause of their death because it was his idea to pick Peter for Secret Keeper. There were far too many factors, Severus."

"Nevertheless, I was lost to the Dark Arts from childhood. Lily was right about that."

"Maybe we shouldn't discuss this. I can't agree with your opinion, which seems deeply seated. Please try to keep an open mind, though? When the baby is born with dark hair and eyes..."

He slid his hand over her stomach. "In that case, it would please me if you named a little girl for my mother, Eileen."

"What about a boy?"

He thought for a minute. "I think I would like you to recall your great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, somehow. He's been very helpful this year and should be remembered."

She nodded and then went sick when she realized what his wording implied.

"You think you're going to die."

"It would be foolish to expect anything else."

She ran her hands along his chest, wishing she could put her arms around him and hold him to her forever. "I can't lose you, too. Not with the baby coming. I know you don't think it's yours, but—"

"You said that we shouldn't argue that point."

"Fair enough."

He leaned up again. "Andromeda, I didn't expect this month with you. At first I pitied you, then I was in awe of you, and now I just want to be with you. It's the golden moment of my life and I'll always be grateful for it. I don't know if I love you—yet—but this month I could pretend to be as other wizards. This month I have had a pretty face and a kind voice to talk things over and a soft body to share my bed."

"Please don't talk like this," she whimpered.

He pushed her hair back with his hand and kissed her. "How about this, then? I'm going to make love to you again, and then I'm going to hold you in my arms and watch you sleep."

"You aren't going to sleep?"

"No, I love watching you. It rests me. No woman ever slept in my arms before you."

She snuggled closer against him. "Why can't it be like this forever?"

"It can't, but it can be like this for the next hour or two, and that's what I'm going to take." He started kissing her again, with an intensity she soon matched.

_A/N: Thank you to Mark Darcy for beta reading._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 9, 1999

Fortunately, the Healer came into the room soon after the female relatives.

"Andromeda, I'm going to have to take a look again. Who do you want with you?" She was unable to speak but clutched at Severus in a way that was expressive. The Healer smiled. "I understand, dear." She turned to Narcissa and Druella. "Ladies, if you wouldn't mind leaving for a few minutes?"

They turned and huffed out of the room. The Healer instructed Severus to help Andromeda lie down while she adjusted the sheet. The labor pain had passed but the process was uncomfortable. Andromeda tried to lie still, but the prodding caused some aches that brought tears to her eyes. Severus held her hand and pushed stray hairs out of her face.

"Okay," the Healer said as she straightened up and helped move her patient to a more comfortable position. She sat down on a chair so she could be eye level. "You haven't progressed much in the past couple of hours."

"Since my mother got here," muttered Andromeda.

"The baby is fine, but things could get scary pretty quickly. I'd like to use a potion to move things along."

"Which one are you suggesting?" asked Severus, his professional interest piqued as much as his concern.

Andromeda watched him and the Healer discuss the finer points of potions brewing for women in labor as a new pain hit her. She hugged Severus's arm to herself and twisted on the bed, trying hard to be quiet. The Healer reached down and felt Andromeda's belly to assess how strong this contraction was.

"She's having difficulty with the pain, even with a potion, as it is," Severus was saying. "How do you propose to control it while you increase the intensity of the contractions?"

The Healer looked over her notes. "She's actually due for another pain potion in a little while, probably about the same time we would be able to bring her the other potion, anyway. By the time they both wear off, your little one should be in your arms." She patted Andromeda on her knee.

Severus didn't have the heart to protest his fatherhood at the moment, so he let her go to make the preparations without any further word. The contraction ended and Andromeda took a deep breath.

"I can't say I'm impressed with the care you're getting right now."

"I think I'm just bad at it. Ask Poppy. I was bad at this twenty-five years ago, too." The tears in her eyes spilled down her cheeks as she thought of it. "My poor baby girl..."

* * *

May 1 & 2, 1998

She woke from her sleep to find the castle in full dark and Severus gone. Her heart beat wildly as she quickly dressed and went to his office. He wasn't there, but the portrait of Phineas Nigellus was. The other picture frames were empty.

"What's going on?"

"Sit down."

She sat at his desk and immediately two picture frames came into view that were invisible from the other side. One contained a torn photograph of a woman she recognized to be Lily Potter. The other was of herself and Severus, decanting a potion into a goblet. She looked closer and remembered. It had been the year before, and Nymphadora had taken a picture as they finished the Wolfsbane for Remus. The contented look on the face of the picture of Severus made her heart beat a little faster.

"After you came here, he went through a box and found that," the voice behind her said quietly.

She turned and gave him her attention. "You were going to tell me what's been going on?"

"Yes. The castle is in the middle of a battle. Harry Potter arrived a few hours ago and Severus went to find him. He needs to give the boy some information and then his duty to Dumbledore will be done. Unfortunately, he got into a battle with Minerva and Filius and left the castle grounds."

"So there's no telling how he is?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Oh."

"I also feel I should tell you that both your daughter and son-in-law are here."

"She just gave birth! How can she do that?"

"I overheard her say that she couldn't stand to be away from her husband. She was going to look for him."

Andromeda stood and walked toward the door. When she reached it, the knob wouldn't turn. She took out her wand. "Alohomora." Sparks flew from the doorknob as the spell hit it. She tried the door again but it still would not open.

"Ahem. You're to stay here."

"I have to get to my daughter! I can—"

"Use your head for a minute, girl. What can you do?"

"I can protect her!"

"Andromeda, stop thinking like a Muggle and remember you're a Black."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, affronted.

"That's better. What can you do that she can't do better in this mess?"

"I'm her mother! I need to take care of my baby!"

"It's precisely because you're a mother and you have a baby to take care of that you're being kept here. Think of the child within you."

Her hands formed fists and tears filled her eyes as she said quietly, "I need to take care of my daughter and to find Severus. You can help me."

"Actually, I cannot. This room is sealed at the request of the Headmaster. There is one person, beside himself, that can enter and you may not leave."

"He left without saying goodbye."

"Do you really want him to be distracted by your tearful goodbyes while he's out there? He needed to be able to face his enemy without any trouble in his heart or mind."

"If I could just see him, I'd feel better. Please let me out."

"I'm afraid that's quite impossible."

Arguing with the portrait did not help her. Pleading and bursting into tears only made him glower. He finally broke into her sobs and said, "Really, Andromeda, I had hoped better things of you. I'm leaving now to see if I can learn anything. When I have news of anyone that might interest you, I'll bring it. Do try to pull yourself together."

Then she was completely alone. The occupants of the portraits had gone, perhaps to other parts of the castle where they could see what was happening. When she stood near the windows she saw flashes of light and heard the noises of battle. Otherwise she was completely insulated from everything. Severus's desk chair was comfortable. She went back to it, pulled her legs up under herself, and dozed.

* * *

"Andromeda, there's news, and it's not good." It was her great-great grandfather.

She had been pacing in the office, now. "Severus," she whispered, stopping her pacing to sit down in his desk chair.

"It's not him. He hasn't been seen since he left before."

"My daughter."

The portrait nodded. "And her husband."

Her eyes filled with real tears, then, now that her greatest worries had come true. "How?" she asked.

"From what I understand, Dolohov killed Remus earlier, and Nymphadora was killed by..." Even for a portrait it was hard to say it.

"Bellatrix." No curse word could sound more foul than it did coming from a woman who was still learning the extent sisterly betrayal could reach. Andromeda stood, pulled out her wand, and stiffened her back. "You will let me out, now, sir."

"Really, you are as fine looking a woman as your great-great-grandmother Ursula, but I must disappoint you. Indeed, I cannot open the door."

Suddenly, the face of Dumbledore appeared in his portrait, looking a bit out of breath. "I have news of Severus!"

That ended the face off between the Blacks as nothing else would. "Where is he?" asked Andromeda.

"I chanced upon a corridor through which Harry and his friends were moving. He told them that Voldemort is in the Shrieking Shack and that Snape is with him as they went."

"Please let me go, Headmaster!"

The blue eyes in the portrait twinkled. "You'll have to do better than that, my dear."

She looked at him and recalled something he had said twenty years before. "Then I beg you, Dumbledore, to give me the help I need at Hogwarts."

There was a large crack and a squawking noise as Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes, appeared in the room. Andromeda looked from the bird to the portrait. "Now what?"

"Hold his tail feathers and he will take you where you need to go."

"I'm not a Gryffindor. Will that matter?"

"It has nothing to do with house. You are something much more important right now."

"What is that?"

"You are a woman who loves. Don't forget that. Everything you have been through with the Blacks, all that you suffered and worked for when you couldn't leave your home, everything you've lost this year has gone into this battle that rages tonight. Throughout all of it, your capacity to love has only grown stronger. Use it wisely, my dear."

Suddenly the voice of Voldemort rang through the castle and the school grounds. Andromeda listened to what he said and could only wonder at the sound of triumph in his voice. Did it have to do with Severus? As he finished speaking, she looked at the two portraits. "Is he dead?" They knew whom she meant.

"There's no portrait of him, here, so I would expect not. I suggest that you get to the Shrieking Shack soon, though. From the sound of it, you have an hour."

"All right." Andromeda grasped the Phoenix's tail feathers and swallowed hard.

* * *

As a form of Apparition, she had to admit it was better than most. Somehow it wasn't quite as jarring or nauseating. That was a good thing, considering the state of her tummy just then.

The house echoed of emptiness, but she looked through it, anyway. When she reached one room she found a pool of blood on the floor and in the middle of it—

"Severus!" She knelt beside him and touched his face. He was bleeding quite a lot from his neck. She tore a bit of her robe away to staunch the flow of blood and discovered what looked like punctures on his neck. A rustle behind her startled her and she looked around to see the bird, who settled on his chest. It sang a song and tears came from its eyes, falling into the wounds.

As she watched, his skin healed, although the deathly pallor didn't go away. She felt through the pockets of his clothing, looking for a potion bottle or vial. She found one and looked at it. It had her name on it. She opened it and smelled something that was almost exactly like her garden at home, but included the frangipani she grew in the window of her potions lab. She sealed it and returned it to his pocket, looking again. She finally found an almost hidden pocket containing what she was looking for. She uncorked the bottle of Blood-Replenishing Potion and held it to his lips, forcing fully half the bottle into him.

As she watched, his skin stopped looking quite so white. The phoenix had perched on a mantle piece and watched her, waiting to see what she would do. What she wanted to do was get far away from this war. She looked at the bird and at Severus and then back at the bird.

"Can you take us to my home?"

In answer, the bird fluttered back down, turning its tail to her. Taking that as a yes, she pondered how to proceed. Pulling Severus to a sitting position, she hugged him to her and once again grasped the tail feathers.

In an instant, she was in her own back garden. "Thank you," she said to the bird, who seemed to nod to her before flying off.

Severus stirred a little in her arms. "A—An..na..." She held him to herself and let the tears fall.

A voice came from the back door. "Is that you... Remus... Tonks?"

Andromeda looked up and saw the face of Arabella Figg, who had moved to her house after Harry Potter had left his aunt and uncle. "Mrs. Figg! It's Andromeda. I have company with me. Is it all right with you if I take him to my bedroom?"

"Do you have news?"

"It's not over, but yes, I have news. Let me get him looked after and then maybe we can have a cup of tea?"

"Certainly, dear. I need to check on the baby, anyhow."

Andromeda's heart leaped at the thought of seeing her grandchild, but Severus's injuries took precidence. She levitated him and took him into the house and up the stairs into her own bedroom. She gently undressed him before settling him down into the bed. Then she looked at herself in horror. She was covered with his blood. She changed her own clothes quickly, enjoying the feel of her own work robes. She washed off her hands and face and grabbed several potions from the medicine cabinet.

First she gave him more Blood-Replenishing Potion and then started washing him off with a damp cloth. His eyes opened and he looked at her. "Can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

His eyes indicated that he understood her, so she continued. "You're at my house. When we left, the battle was still going on, but since you were left for dead, I don't think anyone will be looking for you. Is there anything I can get you? Are you in pain?"

His face seemed to wince.

"I don't have any sort of opiate to give you, but this is a good Sleeping Draught with a pain-relieving component. Until I can contact Poppy or a Healer, it's the best I can do for you."

His eyes shut in acceptance. He looked at her again as she poured a dose of the liquid. She held him up and held it to his lips. His eyes were full of trust as he swallowed. She kissed his forehead and watched as he went to sleep.

Andromeda went down to the kitchen and sat at her own table, pouring herself some of her own tea. It was as unreal as it was wonderful. Arabella was already there. "How have you managed during the past month?" she asked the older woman.

"Well, dear, it's been better than one might expect. The Order was able to retrieve Ted's body and bury it properly, although they didn't have the full funeral, hoping you would return soon—"

"We need to have two more funerals, now," mused Andromeda. "I was told that Nymphadora and Remus were both killed at Hogwarts, tonight."

"Oh! The poor dears! And the poor boy upstairs with no parents."

Andromeda suddenly realized that she had yet to meet her grandson. "I'd like to see him," she said. Together the women walked to the room that had been Nymphadora's as a child. It was more recently the room she shared with Remus when visiting her parents. The baby was lying in a cradle, staring up at a mobile shaped like the moon and the stars.

Andromeda picked him up and held him to herself. An odd feeling went through her as she pondered everything that had happened so recently. "Arabella, I would love it if you would stay with us as long as possible. I'll desperately need another set of hands here."

"I understand, dear, what with the baby and that blood-soaked man you brought to your room. Am I wrong in thinking it was Severus Snape?"

"You are not wrong. It is Severus. I hope that he will be fine, soon, but I'm not sure until I can get a Healer to come. There's more though." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have a baby late this year or early in the next. With two babies..."

The older woman gasped but quickly regained her composure and patted her arm. "You're going to need all the help you can get. Don't worry, deary. We'll get you through all of this."

_A/N: Thank you to Mark Darcy for beta reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

_The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 10, 1999

The baby clamped little jaws down hard and started sucking. The child's mother looked down with tears and love in her eyes. If only all of her relationships could be so simple right then. The tears rolled down her face and she lifted her eyes to the window. The sky was quite dark outside. It was the middle of the night, or early in the morning.

"A lot of new mothers have a crying jag just about now," said Poppy quietly from the doorway. "No one would blame you or think less of you if you were feeling let down or sad."

"I love this little one so much," she answered. She rubbed the tears away with the flat of her hand. "Have you seen Severus?"

"Not since the birth," Poppy replied. "If he needs to think, he could be gone for a while."

Andromeda wiped at the tears again and took a deep breath in an effort to make them stop. "I can't seem to get control of myself."

"Of course not. You've been through so much last year. The birth wasn't particularly difficult, but it was hard enough on you."

She nodded and then noticed that the tears were falling on the baby. She Summoned a hanky and wiped her eyes and face. The baby stopped nursing and looked up into her eyes. She looked back for a minute or two, but suddenly couldn't stand it and turned her head away.

"Your eyes are so much like your Daddy's..."

June 1998

The funeral included Ted as well as Nymphadora and Remus. Andromeda somehow made it through the service and then the grave-side rites. Many friends were there. They all had something kind to say about her lost loved ones. She felt numb. It was odd to see people with whom she had been comfortable her whole adult life and not feel comfortable with them.

Severus had stayed at her home, being still unwell and unsure of his welcome among the mourners. However, he was at Andromeda's cottage when those who were invited after the funeral came. As Andromeda received her well-wishers, he stood to the side of the room and quietly watched, but she encouraged him to stand next to her as she greeted those who came.

After the influx of guests paused, Andromeda turned to discover she was standing alone. She took advantage of the chance to slip into the kitchen. She stood in front of the sink and looked out over the garden. It was as good a time as any to let out the tears that were threatening.

"Are you all right?" It was Harry Potter.

She nodded unconvincingly and turned to him. "Yes, Harry, I'm fine."

"Because I wondered if you had gone completely nutters. Why is Snape staying at your house?"

That got her attention. She pulled her weary spine as straight as it would go and looked up at him. "I don't believe that's your affair, Mr. Potter."

"Teddy is my affair, and I don't think he should be raised with a Death Eater in the house."

"A Dea—Are you aware of just what you owe Severus Snape?"

"He called my mum a Mudblood. He believed in pure-blood supremacy. He was the reason she was killed, and everything he did since then won't make up for that."

"You cheeky little whelp! Do you honestly think the Dark Lord would have waited long to learn any prophecy that involved himself? Severus has saved your bacon more times than you can count since then, including the time he went to Dumbledore and asked that you be protected."

"He asked that my _mother_ be protected."

"And as a result you all were. Do you know how Sirius mourned over his own foolishness in that matter? The simple truth is that a great many people worked hard to protect you and your parents, but the will of Lord Voldemort was that much stronger."

"Snape helped Voldemort."

She sighed. "You'll have to take it up with him. I can't believe you would question my credibility."

"You aren't like the Weasleys."

"I'm not—no, I suppose I'm not." Her voice became quiet but dangerous. "No, Harry, I'm not like the Weasleys. I may not be as much of a blood traitor as they are in your opinion. I'm not as outspoken and I didn't actively fight against the Dark Lord. Instead, I actually married a Muggle-born wizard. I gave birth to a Half-blood child. I have just wept over my husband and daughter, who gave up their lives for your cause. Somehow, these aren't good enough credentials to raise your godson?"

Her voice was still quiet but somehow reminded Harry of how shrill her sister was when excited. Harry knew he was skating a dangerous edge, but he persisted. "Snape hated Remus, you know."

"He may not have liked Remus, but he taught me to make Wolfsbane for him. He's a man who spent his entire adult life doing things he would rather not do because they were the right things to do, all because," she turned away from Harry and looked back out the window, "he loved your mother so much."

Molly came in at that moment. "Andromeda, you look completely worn out. Why don't you sit down and I'll fix you some tea?"

"Thank you, Molly."

Harry looked from one witch to the other. Clearly, they were going to form a front against him on this, but he wasn't done. Eventually he would make Andromeda see that she needed to get rid of the interfering presence in her house. He sighed and left the kitchen.

"Even after they're of age they can be so childish. They think they have all the answers, but they really don't understand what happens or how the world works..." Molly kept her eye on the stove and was distracted by the teacups. She didn't see Severus slip into the room and sit next to Andromeda so that he could put his arm across the back of her chair. "It's not as though you became lovers or anything—"

Molly turned to see Andromeda burrowing her head into Severus's shoulder as he put his arm around her comfortingly. The extent of their relationship was clear to see. The teacups smashed on the floor.

"You _are_... lovers?"

Andromeda looked to her oldest friend, her eyes pleading for understanding as she nodded. "I was lost... and scared to death, and Severus has been so kind to me." She reached for his free hand.

Molly repaired the china and cleared up the mess. She set the kettle to boil again. "I suppose," she started. She thought a moment and started again. "I suppose I can see how it could have happened for you, not that I would ever do that, of course."

"There's more." Andromeda decided to make a clean breast of it.

"Don't tell me."

"I'm pregnant, Molly."

The red-haired witch put the dishes down very carefully and gave up trying to make tea. "You're what? HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE?"

"I didn't think I could... You know how hard Ted and I tried... and nothing."

Molly gasped. "So it's Severus's baby, then."

He cleared his throat. "That remains to be seen."

Both witches looked at him. To Andromeda his comment was an admission. Her heart warmed at the  
thought. Molly, however, found the comment to be horrifying.

"It might be Ted's? How can you sleep with another man when you're pregnant with your husband's baby?"

Andromeda simply looked at her. There was no answer for the situation at hand, simply the fact that it had happened. It didn't matter that she couldn't answer. Arthur was standing in the doorway.

"Molly, I believe it's time we left."

Molly was just getting started. She looked from one to another of the people of the room, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Molly, we have things to attend at home."

"Our Fred, Arthur. Our Fred died and these two are forgetting all about him."

"They've done nothing against Fred, Molly. It's time for us to go and let them be, here. We have our own loss to mourn."

Molly was unable to stop. She opened her mouth and every hurt of the past thirty years was revisited. She reminded Andromeda of all the things each had lost and told her how forgetful she was. At one point she stopped to take a breath.

"Enough!"

Severus had put his hand out. "You might find this trip down memory lane to be useful, Molly, but not the rest of us. Somewhere between your brothers and her cousin Regulus, she fainted dead away. You'll have to continue at another time."

"Come, Molly." Arthur gave Severus a hard look as he led his wife through the group of people who had come when they heard the commotion. The others quickly left as well, leaving Severus with an unconscious witch half in his arms. Still weak, himself, he would never be able to carry her, but he could levitate her up to her bedroom.

Arabella Figg looked at him in some surprise as he put her in her own bed, but she came to unfasten the witch's robes and get her tucked in. Severus went to the kitchen to make a Floo-call to Hogwarts. He was surprised to see Poppy Pomfrey emerging from the fireplace.

"Madam Pomfrey, I was just coming to ask for you."

"Minerva saw what happened and told me I might be wanted. Has she woken?"

"She hadn't when I came downstairs. Mrs. Figg is with her right now. I'll look after her grandson in the drawing room."

He reflected that he had spent much of his life looking after the children of his childhood enemies as he watched the small form of Teddy Remus Lupin sleep in a cot kept downstairs. Helping Andromeda look after her child would be a pleasant change from that perspective. He couldn't ever consider her his enemy, and Ted Tonks had been the least offensive person he knew.

Something about a sleeping baby was quite soothing, he discovered. As he watched, he found his own eyes drooping. He was still weary from his wounds, and getting the witch to her bedroom had been tiring as well.

"Severus."

He roused himself to focus on the face of the witch in the doorway. "Poppy."

"I was surprised to see her in the room where you've been staying?" It was more of a question than a statement.

He looked a little embarrassed. "She's been staying in her daughter's room with her grandson. That's her bedroom, though. It's where she would be most comfortable. I'll stay somewhere."

"She's been looking after Teddy during the night?"

"Once she felt as though I was out of danger, she's been taking Teddy's night time feedings so that Arabella can get some rest."

"Has Andromeda been resting during the day?"

He saw where she was going with this line of questions and simply asked, "What needs to be done?"

"There was some bleeding when I checked her. Now, don't worry... yet." Poppy held up a hand when he jumped up. "I know where the blood came from and it's a common enough occurrence. The child isn't in immediate danger, but she needs to rest or there could be drastic results. It's all too much on her. She was recovering from the loss of her husband, and now she has these other losses, too. I'm not sure she's fully absorbed the extent of it all."

He asked it again. "What needs to be done?"

"I'll take Teddy to the Burrow. If I know Molly, after today's outburst she'll welcome a chance to do this. He'll be fine for a week or two among them. There are plenty of people there who will cuddle him up."

"And Andromeda?"

"She needs to be cuddled up a bit, herself. Can you encourage her to stay in bed for a few days, just to regain her strength? You need to avoid any exertion, yourself."

"Yes, I understand what you're not saying."

Poppy patted his arm as though he were a child. "Let's get you back upstairs so you can rest, too. You might as well be with her. She's asking for you. Just remember that both of you need to rest and recover."

Poppy puttered around the room, giving Andromeda directions and warning looks to Severus. Arabella brought up some tea and left it on the coffee table near the love seat that faced the balcony doors. Andromeda, herself, smiled wanly when she saw Severus. She held out her hand and he sat beside her.

"We've been given orders to rest. Your grandson is going to be spoiled by Molly for a few days."

She nodded. "This has been your room. Is it all right for me to take it?"

"I thought I might look after you for a while. Do you mind?"

She patted the other side of the bed in answer. Poppy gave her last directions and finally left. Severus got his night shirt and slipped into the bathroom. There was something about climbing into bed and having Andromeda roll into his arms that Severus found soothing. For the first time in a week he felt truly comfortable and as though he could sleep. 

* * *

June 8, 1998

Andromeda puttered about in her still room, sorting the herbs she had recently cut. Then she looked over some medicinal potions she had recently made. She had left Severus sleeping upstairs. He was still having odd aches from the snake venom. Poppy had opined that the potion used to heal Arthur Weasley several years earlier might be appropriate. They had obtained a draught of the potion and administered it. Severus had begun to feel better almost instantly, but still needed a dose now and then.

Now Andromeda looked up to see him standing in the doorway. She smiled. He was becoming increasingly mobile and his appetite and appearance were improving as well. They had not yet been intimate although they had been sleeping in the same bed for a few weeks. Andromeda hoped it would be soon. The child was not yet showing, but made itself known by the heaviness she felt in her lower belly. She wanted him to get used to the changes in her body gradually.

He smiled in answer to hers. "I feel as though we should talk."

Her heart skipped a beat. This would be it. She had been waiting for weeks, it seemed, to resume the discussion about their future. She wondered if he would give her time to plan their wedding or if it would be done quickly, like the one she had with Ted. Either way, she would appreciate every minute of this marriage. Looking back, she found that there were many moments she might have made more of with Ted.

They sat in the garden, near the pond, on wooden chairs with slanted backs. Uncle Alphard had brought them back from America after a trip, declaring they were the most comfortable chairs in the world. They had a name, but it was difficult to pronounce, so Andromeda had not really learned it. She sat in her chair and looked at the man she loved and waited for the words that would be as magical as any spell.

"Andromeda, I don't feel that I can marry you right now."

_Adirondak._ That's what the chairs were called. Adirondak. The Americans of a century before had summer cottages in a place called the Adirondaks and they used these chairs to sit outside at night and watch the stars. Sometimes they sat on those chairs on a porch and looked at a lake or stream by the hour. It wasn't such a bad word after all, full of mystery and a magic of its own, certainly much more romantic than what had just been said to her.

"I beg your pardon?" she finally asked when she could re-establish a connection to her tongue.

"It wouldn't be right. I do want to marry you eventually, and I want to help you raise your child. It's the closest I will get to having one of my own. I simply think that a kid should be born with his father's name."

Her eyes were dazed as she looked out over the pond. "In this case, that name would be Snape. I fail to see how my continuing to be Tonks would give the name Snape to the child."

"Please, Anna." He had started calling her "Anna" while he was so sick, finding her full name tiring to say. She had found it sweet, but right now she wished it was a stick she could bludgeon him with. She barely noticed as he continued. "I believe it's impossible that the child could be mine and you think it's equally impossible that it's Tonks's. Given that both are impossible, I've decided that we would wait until after the birth to see if we can make a determination. We can always have the name changed if I'm wrong. Then, I swear to you that we will get married, if you want me.

She stood up then and looked at him, feeling a little crazed. As Severus looked at her, he thought she seemed more like her older sister than he had ever seen her. "_You_ believe. _You_ decided. My opinion doesn't count? This is as good a reason not to get married as any, Severus, so I'll accept it. The real reason is that you don't love me, and you don't think you ever will. Fair enough, but you should just admit it."

"Of course I l—"

"Don't cheapen our already cheap situation by saying that! I know you don't love me. There's only one reason you would still believe the ravings of a teenage girl that you heard twenty years ago. You're far too rational for that. There's only one reason you won't at least consider the possibilities."

He looked at her. Her chest was heaving with sobs that threatened to break out, but she was too determined not to let them out. She took a deep breath and said what she knew was true. "That night—when I brought you here—I cleaned your robe and emptied the pockets first. I found the bottle with my name, but I also found another almost just like it. I know the truth, Severus. The reason you don't want to marry me and the reason you can't love me—it's because you still love Lily Evans."

He forced his face to go blank. "Anna..."

"You still love her, Severus, and as long as you retain this ridiculous notion, that of course you couldn't conceive a child with me because it would somehow be disloyal to her and everything she ever said or did, maybe we shouldn't get married. Don't say what will happen after the baby is born. Until you can let her go, perhaps it's for the best. It's not so bad, taking second place to a ghost."

"I know that at least as well as you do." His own bitterness surprised him.

Her eyes narrowed as she sat down again. "Whatever could you be talking about?"

He chuckled ironically. "You slid me into your life hours after he left it. Wizards aren't like cauldrons, that you can just replace as soon as they wear out. You were shocked and unhappy and made use of my presence at Hogwarts. I understand; I did the same with you. Now, however, you want to resume the—admittedly—lovely life you lived with your husband and you expect me to be just like him. You expect me to be Ted Tonks for the rest of my life."

"How can you say that?"

"Because it's true. I'm not Ted Tonks and I never will be. I'm not going to worship you just because you were kind enough to marry me."

"Of course not. You won't give me the chance to marry you."

"I'm grouchy in the morning, I mutter, and I make hurtful sarcastic remarks."

"I know that, and I love you."

"How could you say that after less than three months together, the beginning of which was almost forced?"

"I don't know. You described it as a golden moment... For me it was the moment in which everything changed. I don't love Ted any less... I just find that you belong. We match each other, somehow."

"I belong? We should also consider the very real animosity with which some of your friends regard me. Potter and Molly Weasley won't forgive you if you marry me so soon. I'm not sure, Andromeda, and until I'm sure, I can't marry you."

She looked at her hands in her lap and nodded. "I'll learn to live with it. My first wedding was less than ideal. I had a suitcase full of the only belongings I would take from my parents' house, and I had Ted. That was it. I didn't get a wedding with my family and friends. It turned out better that way. Ted and I were just as happy without it all because we had each other. Now I just have to lose another girlish fantasy, I suppose. I'll be all right... eventually..." She had to walk fast to get away from him. She didn't want to start bawling right there.

He stared at the pond for a while, considering what she said. It was all the ravings of a pregnant woman, of course, but there was an element of truth. He backed away from that thought. It was not something he would consider until another time. For now, he would find his witch and speak to her.

He peeked into the drawing room. Mrs. Figg was there, putting Teddy down for a nap. He found Andromeda in the bedroom. Her face was red from crying. He took off his robe and shoes and climbed in behind her, sliding an arm around her middle. "Do you want me to leave?"

In an instant, she rolled over and curled into his embrace. "Please don't go!"

"It seems as though my presence could only cause you pain."

"I need you here with me." She leaned her head toward his and started kissing him. The anger she had felt downstairs turned to a different passion, and her kisses became hungry. His kisses in return were more tentative. She tore at his shirt, unfastening it and pushing it over his shoulders.

"Anna?"

"I love you, Severus, and whatever you can give me will have to be enough. There's so little left of the life I used to have. I can't lose this, too."

For some reason he felt his own eyes watering as he undressed her. The new heaviness of her body somehow incited greater passion within him, and her hungry fingers touched him everywhere. He gave her all of his heart that was free. It was more than he at one time thought possible.

She made a breathy-sounding moan as the pleasure seeped through his body. He realized she was right. He couldn't give her up. This was home to him. After two months of living with her as though they belonged together, somehow the pretension had become the reality.

_A/N: Thanks to Trickie Woo for beta reading!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 9, 1999

The Healer was making her arrangements and Andromeda was lying listlessly in the hospital bed. From what Severus had been told, she had been in labor since about two o'clock the previous afternoon and had been in this bed since about four hours later. Now she had been in labor for a full day and was completely exhausted.

He knew now that he wanted Andromeda more than Lily. Lily had shared his bed once and never forgave him for it or any of a million other things she considered infractions against her. This woman loved him in spite of his moodiness and sarcasm and in spite of the fact that he didn't have a paying job.

"Are you sure you want me?" he asked.

"Please don't leave me," she begged. "Please don't ever leave me. You belong here. I know I've been moody and mean lately, and I've heard that men don't like needy women, but I need you."

"Shush," he whispered. "The Healer will be back with your potions. Poppy will be back soon to assist, and the baby will be here. You'll feel better after that."

"I ruined it last week, didn't I? I shouldn't have sent you away like that. Please forgive me."

"Don't be foolish. You were right."

"I was right to send you away? Is there someone else?"

Andromeda was getting panicky, and he was at a loss to soothe her. Poppy came when the Healer came back and gave her the potions. Together the two Healing professionals worked over their patient. She struggled and fought against her pains, half in fear that as soon as it was over Severus would leave again. Poppy was soothing but adamant. She stood on one side of Andromeda as she directed Severus to stand on the other.

The laboring witch couldn't prevent the inevitable, and soon the cry of the child was heard. Andromeda had been held in position by Severus and Poppy, and now she tried to rest. Poppy was busy keeping her focused on what was needed to deliver the afterbirth. The Healer did what was needed for the baby but soon needed to get back to the mother.

So it was that Severus had a small bundle of humanity thrust into his hands. He looked into the small face and then into the face of the mother. Something within him couldn't tabulate the information although the facts were undeniable. He sat near Andromeda as she finished. Poppy finally let her lie back.

The Mediwitch came and took the baby. She looked at Severus and said, "Can there be any doubt?"

"No," he answered. "It's clear to see."

"I'll do the testing, anyway, just to be sure."

"It won't hurt, will it?"

She smiled kindly. "I already have what I need from you, and I can get what I need for the baby using the afterbirth."

He turned and caressed Andromeda's face, kissing her fervently. "I know I said I would stay, but I have to go. I promise I'll be back."

He left before she had a chance to respond. 

* * *

June 1998

"How can you love me?" he asked over breakfast.

"I don't know," she answered. She was holding her grandson and feeding him a bottle. The image was almost more than he could handle. "I've never been in this position. When Ted and I got married, it was to keep my family from forcing me to marry someone else. The love came later."

He rattled the newspaper. "If I read these veiled hints properly, there are some in our community who believe I intend to sponge off your war widow stipend. I really ought to go back to my own house and find work."

"Not until you're fully ready. I'm not sure I trust what Kingsley said about a pardon until I see the Ministry paperwork, either."

"You don't mind that they think you're foolish?"

She looked up ruefully. "They're going to say far worse things about me when my condition becomes obvious. 'Didn't even wait for her husband's body to be cold,' or something like that, I'm sure. That will be the kind ones. The others will remark upon my 'Death Eater Baby.' There's really nothing I can say or do to prevent it."

"Do you regret our time together?"

She shook her head. "Perhaps I should, but I don't. It was as if it didn't exist in real life. You were such a comfort to me, Severus, even if you couldn't let me leave."

"You can tell them it's Ted's baby."

"Not when I don't believe it to be true."

He read the paper a little longer as she cooed to little Teddy.

"Andromeda... I had the upper hand when you stayed at Hogwarts with me, but now you have the upper hand. You could send me away if you choose."

She smiled at little Teddy, who was smiling back. "I suppose I could, but my feelings for you make things even."

By staying, he only increased the talk and the hints in the _Daily Prophet_ gossip columns. He increased Andromeda's hopes and the depth of her disappointment when her hopes didn't come true. The bitterness of their small quarrels was increasing, too.

If he left, though, he would have to do without the companionship she offered him. He was disgusted to find that even when they argued, he craved her presence. Since the time he first rode the Hogwarts Express he had enjoyed his solitude. He had never in his life been lonely. Now there was an ache whenever he and Andromeda disagreed. Something in him was unsettled until one of them went to the other and they made it up.

To make matters worse, she was the specific witch he needed to be near. He never would have dreamed of a time when he could have his choice of many witches. When in his wildest dreams he had such a choice, the idea of limiting himself to just one witch was completely foreign. Yet here he was, and in the midst of so much offered to him, he only wanted one.

Some of their early quarrels had come about when they had attended one function or another. Wizards had flocked around the widow Tonks, eager to re-introduce her to society. She smiled and refused all offers consistently. Severus, aware she was doing so for him, had scolded her for it. She had quietly shaken her head and insisted that she had no interest in other men.

The point became moot when someone in the press realized she was pregnant. She was the page three headline for a full week as the speculations about her pregnancy played out. Andromeda tried to be serene through it all, but her lips became set. Severus watched her read the newspaper and sighed.

It culminated one morning when Severus read something that shook him to the core. It was too plausible and it explained everything if true, yet it was almost too horrible to be borne. He blasted the paper before Andromeda had a chance to read it.

"Severus, what did you do that for?"

He stood and walked around the table.

"Is something the matter?"

He hated to violate her privacy, but he had to know. _"Legilimens."_

As he sifted through her memories, he found the nights they had spent together. Where he had experienced the release of his body, she had found a meeting of body and soul. He almost stopped then and there, but continued on. He would have to sort through that later. Working backwards, he found her one-sided battle with Bellatrix and before that she was in the arms of another man. She and Ted Tonks lay together, wrapped in a double sleeping bag and giggling like children as they kissed and... Now he did stop. What he was looking for wasn't there, and he wouldn't intrude further.

"I apologize, Andromeda. I won't disturb you any more." He spent the rest of the day in the still room, working on potions that would be needed in the Hogwarts Infirmary during the school year.

She was visited by Molly Weasley that day. Molly never quite got over the fact of Severus in Andromeda's life, but she was learning to accept it. She had come, full of matronly sympathy over what she had seen in the paper. She brought dinner with her and helped with some of the housework.

Andromeda was strangely quiet as they ate. Mrs. Figg discussed young Teddy's activities that day. He was taking notice and flirting with everyone he saw. She went to the sitting room to listen to the wireless and read the _Evening Prophet_. After she was gone, Andromeda dropped a copy of the morning edition on the table. A picture of Andromeda with the headline _Dark Lord Rising?_ stared up at them from the front page.

"You thought I had been with Lord Voldemort. The paper speculated about what he might have done to me after Ted was killed, and you thought it was just about possible."

He winced at her use of the name. "It was not something I would have held against you."

"No?"

"No. I know you would never do that with him unless you were forced."

"How do you know I haven't been Obliviated?"

"It leaves a mark. I would have known."

"I could be Occluding it."

"Not from me."

She looked away. "What _would_ you have done if you had seen a memory of him?"

It was not a question he was prepared to answer.

"You almost liked it as a solution to the question of the child's paternity. I can tell."

"Anna..."

"I can't go out any more. That's clear. Everyone will be watching to see if my baby suddenly tries to take over the world."

He had stood then, and walked around the table, taking her into his arms in a way he seldom did. He held her and let her cry. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm prepared to love your child. We'll be a family of sorts: you, me, the two children..."

It was so close to what she wanted but so entirely different that she had to hide her true feelings from him. After they came together that night, she placed her head on his chest as she often did, but looked away from this face. Instead she idly ran her fingers over the line of hairs between his ribs and navel. His own hand rested on her head.

"Anna?"

She shrugged.

"Andromeda."

Still no answer.

"Mrs. Tonks, I have something to say."

She froze at that and slowly lifted her head to look at him. His fingers slid between her tresses and moved them out of her face, over her shoulders and down her back.

"I was wrong to accuse you of wanting to replace your husband with me."

Her eyes widened, but she didn't answer.

"I was also wrong to invade your privacy as I did this morning. I told myself that it was because I wanted to know if he had hurt you, but there was probably more to it." Now he broke the eye contact. "I learned more than I should have, and I'm sorry." His hand went back to her head, stroking through her hair again. "I know now that I'll never replace Ted Tonks in your heart. I apologize for accusing you of wanting me to be him."

She put her head back down and she was quiet for so long he thought she must have gone to sleep. There was a whisper of her breath on his bare skin and then she spoke. "When I was a child, I expected to have nothing less than a tall, dark, brooding prince who would burn with love for me. I came to realize that Ted was the hero who would save me from what my life was becoming. Now there's you, Severus. You can't have Ted's place in my heart, and he would never fit in the place you have made for yourself there. Everything is different now."

He slid down in the bed and grasped her head from both sides. He kissed her hard, his fingers clenched in her hair. He rolled her into the pillows, his knee between hers, and waited for her to moan his name before continuing. She did, and he didn't wait another heartbeat. He enjoyed the softness that surrounded him and the elation that came when she yielded to his passion.

Later, he slid to her side and watched her regain her breath. As her breathing and heartbeat slowed, she curled into him like a kitten and fell asleep. He watched her as he so often did, amazed by her ability to feel comfort in his arms. He thought sadly that she would never feel the same joy with him as with her husband. Although she smiled gently sometimes and, he thought, found complete contentment with him, she never laughed or giggled as freely as she had in that memory. Her happiness was gone, snatched away at the hand of her sister with the spell that killed Ted Tonks. It was yet another reason to assume the child was Tonks's. Surely the child was conceived in the midst of the joy he had inadvertently discovered. 

* * *

At the time of the Ministry ball, Andromeda had been instructed by the party organizers not to come. Severus had been offended and started the evening with a sense of mild annoyance until the Order of Merlin award had been announced. He realized, then, why she had insisted that he come, and he had known that she would want him to enjoy himself.

He was much sought after as a dancing partner after the awards were given. Many witches between the ages of twenty and fifty had slid their names and owl designations into the pockets of his suit coat as he walked past or stopped for refreshments. He had left the slips of paper in his pockets. He later told himself that he had forgotten about all about them. He found that he had no interest in any witch other than the one waiting for him in her cottage. At the same time, there was a part of him that could not resist seeing what would happen when those papers were discovered.

He wasn't surprised by her reaction in that he honestly had not known what to expect. His clothing was laundered and pressed, and all the little papers were in a pile on the nightstand he used. He had no reason to complain that she had been nosy or had destroyed the notes. Yet for a couple of days, Andromeda's eyes were sadder than usual and far too large. He had flaunted his opportunities before her, and it had hurt her. Yet she wouldn't complain. He had to admire the way she stiffened her back and went about her business. She treated him just as she always had. She silently conceded this particular battle to him, that he might leave and have a different witch every night for several months, yet he felt strangely chastened by it as well.

His hunger for her that week surprised him. He couldn't get enough of her and kept her awake until late at night, when she could barely keep her eyes open. As she slept in his arms he whispered his apologies, telling himself that he was sorry for causing her jealousy and heartbreak. As he fell asleep he was aware that he was also apologizing for much deeper hurts. He knew she was right to ask him to give up Lily, and that it put him in the wrong. Yet the thought of giving up Lily was too painful. He couldn't do it.

That was the week he first felt it. He had made love to her one night until he was completely spent. She fell asleep almost instantly. He held her close, drifting in and out of sleep in a delicious languor. He loved to run his hands over her enlarging belly, feeling an inexplicable sense of contentment in her increasing girth. As he rubbed, he felt something on the other side move against his hand. He snatched his hand away and then realized what he had felt. He touched again and the baby moved again. For that night, he imagined how he would feel if the child was his. It was strangely invigorating, and after that he found himself sliding his hand along Andromeda's tummy in different places, hoping the baby would respond. 

* * *

January 1, 1999

It reached a breaking point the afternoon he realized she had been repairing his shirts and trousers. Severus came back from a tea that was held in honor of the war heroes and wanted nothing more than a long nap. He came upstairs and discovered her grandson asleep on the bed. She was sitting by the window and calmly darning at a hole on one of the knees of a pair of pants. It was too much of an obligation and it irritated him.

"I don't recall asking you to do that."

"You don't need to ask. It's a task that needed doing and I know how to do it."

"You're not my wife. You have no business mending my clothes."

"My love for you gives me all the cause I need."

"I tell you, I won't have it." He took the pants from her and put them in a bag. He started packing other clothes in that bag, too. Really, it was amazing how many of his belongings had simply moved into this room where he was a guest. He would correct that situation now.

"Severus, what are you doing?"

"Something I probably should have done months ago." She followed him down the stairs and into the sitting room. Her eyes were full of unshed tears, but she wouldn't let them fall. He admired her strength of will for that. He moved closer to kiss her, to tell her that he would be back, but as he looked into her eyes he sensed it would be a disaster for him. It would be too easy to throw himself at her feet and beg her to marry him and let him love her forever. Instead he went for a cheap shot, one he knew wasn't true but one that hurt her, nonetheless.

He wasn't disappointed. She answered in a rush and then turned and went toward the kitchen. He could hear her stifle a sob, but he hardened his heart. It was cruel and somehow wrong of him to leave her when the baby was due any time, but he couldn't take another moment of her overwhelming love. As he heard her retrace her steps, muttering to herself about leaving the baby upstairs, he quickly went through the door and out to her garden and a place he could Disapparate. 

* * *

January 5, 1999

He stalked through his house, back and forth, from library, to kitchen, to bedroom, and back. With a snort of self-derision, he pulled an Arithmancy reference book from the shelf. He might as well calculate exactly how many kinds of fool he was. Sleep wouldn't come tonight.

He wanted that life. He'd spent 30-odd years wishing for a warm home where the inhabitants loved and respected each other. As a child he had longed for the sort of kindness and soothing nature that was found in the world she ruled. As an adult he had wished for a comfortable oasis in which he could relax from the trials of his work and other commitments. Only a fool would let all of that slip away.

He wanted the child. He was shocked to discover that he already had a relationship with Andromeda's baby. As the mother had slept, he had played with the child, tracing its movements on the outside of her belly. Oddly enough, the child had responded, and he found that he somehow knew this person even unseen. He would never admit it, but he already loved the child. Deep in the dark of night, he had come to wish the child was his, although he kept himself from hoping. He knew better than to hope for anything good to come to his life.

He wanted _her_. She was still a kind voice and a soft body, but she was also a person. He missed the way she sat primly at breakfast, as though her mother would enter the room at any minute and start scolding her for bad posture. He missed the way she would work in her still room, stirring potions with her entire body down to her hips, in a dance that left him dry-mouthed without her even realizing it. He missed her lovemaking at night. He missed her intelligence and her quick mind. She often admitted that she wasn't the brightest witch to go through Hogwarts, but she knew enough to ask good questions and understand the things he explained.

He did his calculation and shook his head. It was a big number, but perhaps the right size. He knew how much of a fool he felt like. The Andromeda who existed a year ago would never have been right for him. She was content in her life and he was poised for death. Fate and Bellatrix Lestrange had taken a wand and changed everything with one spell. He didn't rejoice in the fact of Ted Tonks's death; no one could be happy that a hero was dead. Yet he would accept it. He would take advantage of the opportunity that change in everyone's lives gave to him.

He and Andromeda were both considered tainted by the truly pure-blood. His father was a Muggle. He wasn't even a Muggle-born wizard. Her marriage to a Muggle-born wizard placed her in a similar position. They had both suffered losses due to the wars. They had both been outcast by those who should be peers. They had tasted loneliness and bitterness, some of it caused by those who owed them love. Yet Andromeda's heart still contained a love which she shared unstintingly, and she had taught him to love her back.

He didn't belong in the birth room. That privilege belonged to Ted Tonks, even if the other wizard wasn't available to accept it. Severus resolved that he would wait until the baby was born and a reasonable time had passed. After that, he would court her and try to win her. Perhaps with him she would learn to laugh again. In order for that to happen, he would have to learn how to laugh, himself.

_A/N: Thanks to Mark Darcy for beta reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 10, 1999

He came back during the small hours of the morning. She and the child were both sleeping. The baby was clasped to her breast and wedged there with pillows. Severus slid the baby out of her arms and kissed it before tucking it into the bassinet. He pulled the covers over Andromeda, who murmured in her sleep as he did so. He Transfigured the utilitarian furniture of the hospital into an easy chair and slid it close to her. After kissing her forehead and taking her hand within his, he sat down to sleep, himself. 

* * *

April 24, 1998

He should have realized that something was going on the night that she came out of the bathroom with a confused look on her face. He later realized that was the moment she must have started to wonder. Over the next several days, as he replayed them in his mind, she had gone from wondering to being sure and then worrying about his reaction.

On that first night, though, he looked at her and asked, "Is anything the matter?" She smiled a sad smile at him. "No, everything is fine."

Before he had a chance to ask again, she climbed on the bed and pressed him onto his stomach. She started at the crown of his head and started rubbing. She worked her way down his shoulders. She massaged each arm down to his fingertips and then returned to his back. Down she went to his feet, after which she had him roll over and she began her path back up to his face. What followed was exquisite.

He played with her fingers as he relaxed afterwards. "Andromeda, I've never known this sort of lovemaking."

She gave him a look that in another context would almost be considered motherly. "Do you mind?"

"How could I mind? I want to know what brought it on."

"Hm... Nothing of any importance." She traced the lines of his face, searching for what he eventually decided was a clue about the appearance of the child within her. "I find that I'm quite tired tonight. Do you mind terribly?"

"No, you've managed to wear me out." He put his arms around her and pulled her tight. His lips held hers for a long moment, and then he settled her against himself, one arm around her, and the other trailing through her hair.

If he had been paying attention, he would have seen her curious look become speculative as she glanced at him that week. He would have understood the ironic smirk she had given the note from Remus. He would have known what the meeting with her family had meant to her. Most importantly, he would not have been taken by surprise when she had whispered the words that would change his life forever. 

* * *

May 24, 1998

"I've selected Harry and Draco."

"Potter... and your nephew? I would have expected you to choose someone else."

She bent over and picked up some more laundry to hang on the line. "I thought you would have a different role in this household."

He didn't answer that insinuation. He had been thinking hard about her situation and about his marriage proposal in what were the last hours of the war. He looked hard at her and decided that this was not the moment to have that particular discussion. It could certainly wait until the present conversation finished.

The spells that protected the Tonks house had been set when the cottage had belonged to Andromeda's Uncle Alphard. The Secret Keepers of that time were dead, as were several of the people who became Secret Keepers after that happened. When the ministry had been taken over by Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange's first order of business had been to destroy the spells and pay her sister a visit. She had been under strict orders not to hurt her sister, and was only allowed to look for the Mudblood husband and half-blood child. Knowing this would happen, Andromeda had been home alone, and Bellatrix had been too busy to come back again.

The spells would be re-set now that the war was over. Andromeda had worked with the Ministry to return it to Unplottable status and she was going to hide her home from most of the Wizarding world again. "I've lived this way for so long that I would feel far too exposed if everyone knew where to find me," she had explained.

Severus came back to the moment. "I had thought one of the Weasleys, perhaps."

She shook her head. "Molly used to be my best friend. I _hope_ she still is, but she's too angry with me now, and I wouldn't want to put Arthur or the boys in a bad position with her. Besides that, I need to consider widening my circle amongst some of the pure-blood witches and wizards. Harry and Draco will help me bring the two sides of my life together. I've explained it to them, at different times, of course. They'll behave for the purposes of what I need them to do."

She was working through some of his robes and trousers and he stood up to help. "Are you sure you want to do this? You're putting control of so much of your life in their very young hands. In my dealings with wizards that age, I haven't found them to be particularly level headed."

She smiled at him. "They have a great deal of experience due to the war. I believe we can trust them. They know who I want allowed to visit my home and they won't tell anyone else how to get here."

Arabella brought the baby out, and it was time to go back inside. "They'll do well, Severus, I'm sure. I need to think of Teddy... and of..." She glanced down and smoothed her robe over her yet unchanged tummy, and he knew whom she meant.

"All right, then." He patted her shoulder, hoping that these small children would not regret her choices. Given her choices where he was concerned, he was worried. 

* * *

June 24, 1998

He came into the sitting room after an inventory of her still room. He wasn't sure it was the best idea, but she had convinced him that he could prepare potions there. She was right; he could take on the tasks requested by Hogwarts and easily brew what was needed from her home. He wasn't sure about whether he should stay at her house, but the look in her eye whenever he brought the subject up decided him. He could barely admit to himself that he was hard pressed to think of his life without her. What had begun as two people clinging together in the midst of a war had continued as they tried to make sense of the new world that existed now. Clinging together worked for them, and neither was eager to change that.

"Andromeda, I need parchment to write letters to some apothecary houses. What's all this?" he growled, although he could see what covered her desk. There were several new scrolls that day from wizards who wanted to become better acquainted with the widow of Ted Tonks.

"Oh, I need to answer more of these kind letters."

"Anna, this isn't kindness. Do you know what this one says?"

"Isn't that the gentleman who said he admired Ted's work?"

"Are you kidding? He all but says he wants to ravish you."

"Let me see that, again." She read it, this time paying attention to the wording Severus pointed out. "Oh." Her face turned red. "Well, I've been putting a fairly standard answer in all of these. I appreciate their kind letters and notes, but I'm not going out much except to specific Ministry functions. Do you think that's correct?"

He was scanning others. "You should probably accept this one."

She shook her head. "He's very nice, but I wouldn't feel right. I don't want to lead him on."

"One of these men might be the one you want to be with from now on."

She looked away and answered quietly. "I don't think so."

"Andromeda, you may not want me after all. You should consider who would be the best man to help you raise these children."

"I've made my choice. Teddy would be best off with the man I love, and the baby I carry will be best off with his or her father."

"Who isn't me," he insisted.

"I think I know when and how I got pregnant," she answered.

"I think you're fooling yourself."

A blot formed as she quivered with anger. "I don't want to speak to you any more right now, Severus. Take some parchment and go." He left, but stood outside the door long enough to hear her swear at her quill and then mutter a charm to siphon off the excess ink. 

* * *

October 31, 1998

"Damn it, Lily, why did you have to do this to me?"

He sat on her side of the grave, contemplating the spray of flowers he had brought. As usual, she didn't answer and as usual it made him angrier. Potter didn't answer either, which was the only good part of the situation.

"She's much better in bed, if you must know. Sorry, Potter," he added snidely. A passing Muggle in a nearby part of the graveyard gasped. He would have to moderate his voice better. He had never come so early in the day, before, but he had never had somewhere better to spend his evenings before, either.

"She knows the same people I know, too. She doesn't just consider them lower life forms and then forget about them; she knows them as people. She grieves with me for them. Even if they were on the wrong side of the war, they were still human beings who lost their lives too soon."

The gravestone still didn't answer.

"She treats me differently, too. She's far more demanding than you ever were. She expects me to be there for dinner or let her know when I won't be. She expects me to sleep with her every night. She expects me to treat her and all who come to her house with respect. I do every bit of it, Lily, because it pleases her. She refuses to write me off, and it wears her out. Are you aware that you took the easy way with me?

"I don't understand it, Lily. I love you, yet I want this life with her. Being with you was sweet torture, but being with her is natural and easy, when we don't quarrel. All of our quarrels these days are because of you. She thinks the baby is mine, when you told me it cannot be. She thinks I still love you, and she's right."

He uncapped the bottle he brought with him and took more than a taste. "I can't see my way, Lily. I haven't had a choice since I was twenty years old, and now I have to make a decision. Yet I can't go in either direction until you get out of my path." 

* * *

January 10, 1998

She woke up with a shudder and sat up quickly before groaning. Her nails bit into his arm. "Where's my baby?"

"Calm down... right here in the bassinet," he answered. "You were both asleep."

"What are you doing here?"

"I think we should consider the future, now."

"You said I was right to send you away."

"That's not what I meant—"

"I think it might be true. Perhaps you're ready to move on without me. You've spent most of the last twenty years doing what others have demanded of you. I don't want to be one of the people trapping you into a life you would rather not have."

"Anna..."

"If you would just give my baby back to me," she said as she cleared her throat, "I won't keep you any longer. I'll manage."

"How do you know if I'll manage?"

"I know you can't get Lily Potter out of your system..."

"Andromeda." There was something in that tone of voice that made her pay attention to him. She looked into his face. "Our daughter is fine where she is right now. I have something I want to say." 

* * *

January 9, 1999

"Severus, you have news."

He sneered at the woman who had once been his professor, had later been his colleague and most recently was his employee. "Not for you, Minerva." He couldn't share what had happened to him that night. "If you don't mind, I'll just get what I came for and I'll be on my way."

"Not so fast, young man," she answered. "Poppy was called away and I know it was to attend Andromeda. If you're here, it must be over."

"If your knowledge is so extensive, then you don't need me to augment it," he answered.

She matched his stride as he made his way to the dungeons. "You're going to tell me, Severus."

He made it to his former quarters and was inside before he had to answer her.

"Severus!" He barely heard it through the door.

All of his furniture had been returned to this room, although it looked more like a jumble sale than a bedroom. He managed to wedge the door of the wardrobe open and found the gilt box he had so recently tried to give to Andromeda. She had hinted then that someone else might be a more appropriate recipient. Of course she had already guessed who that person might be. A little further in there was an older, smaller box. Much of the gilt had rubbed off this one.

When he came back into the dungeon hallway, he discovered that Minerva was still there.

"Severus, you must tell me what happened."

"'Must?' That's an odd word to use, when I'm not sure if it's any of your business. Other people are involved, you know." He slid the boxes into his inside pockets and made his way toward the doors out of the castle.

"We'll all know soon enough, anyway."

"Then you don't need me to tell you."

"Severus Snape! You are the most exasperating man."

"That's an unoriginal comment coming from you."

They walked on, he in determined silence, she equally determined to break it. They went down the school drive in darkness and quickly reached the gate.

"Severus." She stopped him with her hand on his arm and he turned to look. "At least tell me whether it was a boy or a girl."

He could barely stifle a grin behind his hand as he summoned the determination to Apparate. "A beautiful girl." 

* * *

January 10, 1999

He didn't bother to sit this time.

"You were wrong, Lily."

The granite stone had never answered him in the past. It did not break the tradition this time. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted and a car door slammed. He didn't notice.

"You were wrong." He walked around the stone to the other side.

"I'm not just a Death Eater, I'm not too far gone to the Dark Arts, and I am capable of fatherhood."

With a rueful grin, he pondered her tendency to remain silent. Suddenly he didn't mind. He should have realized long ago how preferable it was to her constant nagging. He didn't want to take any longer thinking about it than he needed right now. He'd already spent far too much of his life on this woman.

"More than that, I'm capable of love, Lily. Not the pained torture of wondering if you would give me the crumbs of your kindness on any given day, either. She and I share..." He spread his arms out to indicate what he couldn't find words to say. "Actually, I'm not sure you need to know any of that. What you do need to know, Lily, my _dear—_" he said this last with a sneer "—is that it's over."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The air was cold and clean. When he breathed in again, he felt cleaner, himself. It was a lighter feeling than he had ever known. Without realizing it, he was walking out of the cemetery and into the road. He looked around before Disapparating. There was no one, so he quickly turned. He needed to get back to his witches.

_A/N: Thanks to Mark Darcy for beta reading!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

January 11, 1999

Druella Black came to visit her daughter's hospital room and found her smoothing down dress robes in a shade of Wedgwood blue. That Squib was holding the half-breed child while Narcissa played with Andromeda's hair. Druella's precious granddaughter slept in her bassinet, oblivious to the odd goings-on in the room.

"Isn't that a bit overdressed?" asked the woman who thought of herself as a matriarch. "I wouldn't have thought you needed anything so grand, even if you are going home, today. Speaking of which, when am I to be told how to get to your home?"

Andromeda made a face that was no less annoying to her mother than it had been thirty-five years before. "I was planning to wear this to the Ministry Ball when Severus was honored last summer. No one has seen it." She grimaced at a mirror as she smoothed it over her still-chubby belly and then turned back to the other witch. "You are not coming to my home, Mother. I cannot have you there."

"You can't have me there?" Druella's voice got a little screechy. "I'll have you know, miss, what I've suffered over you. I've always missed you, although your father was adamant."

"Really?" Andromeda raised an eyebrow and looked at her mother calmly. "Because I went to my father's funeral, Mother, and I don't recall your acknowledging my existence. Nor have you shown me any interest since then until this last spring. I suspect that even that was under the order of the Dark Lord."

"I couldn't speak to you at your father's funeral. I needed to honor his memory. But now—"

Andromeda sighed. "Fine, Mother. Why don't you hold your great-grandson in your arms if you're so willing to be a big happy family?"

Druella shrugged. "I don't have a great-grandson."

Her daughter nodded and spoke quietly. "And I need to honor my daughter's memory. You're not invited to my home. You are, however, welcome to join us downstairs for a few minutes in the special meeting room. Perhaps you can hold Eileen."

"What are you doing downstairs?"

"You will have to come and see, Mama," said Narcissa. "It will be wonderful."

Druella suddenly caught a glimpse of a gleam on Andromeda's hand. "Is that the Pheemy Prince ring?"

Andromeda hid her hand. "Whatever are you talking about?"

"That looked exactly like the Pheemy Prince ring."

"Mother, Euphemia Prince has been dead for a hundred years. No one alive has seen her ring."

Narcissa giggled. "Give it up, Andie, she _knows_."

She sighed because her sister was right. Back at an age where Andromeda Black had studied Charms and Potions, Druella Rosier had studied family trees and marriage contracts. Mother might not have the first idea on how to soothe a child's tummy ache, but she knew every piece of jewelry that had changed hands in Wizarding Britain in the last six hundred years.

January 10, 1999

"Don't tell me my baby is fine, Severus. I need to see her." Andromeda started to get up, but Severus's hand on her arm was firm. He stood and lifted the child from the bassinet. Little black eyes opened and looked into big ones. The little eyes closed trustingly and the baby went back to sleep. With a quiet murmur and a kiss, Severus pulled the small bundle to his chest and sat down, holding his daughter. Looking at the way he cradled her head in his hand, Andromeda went weak at the sight.

_She recalled an afternoon in October when she happened upon him in Teddy's nursery. He had dozed off in the rocker, and the baby was sleeping on his chest. Severus had looked up when she came. "He's been so fussy all day with these teeth of his. When he went to sleep like this, I didn't want to risk waking him."_

She had gone weak at the knees in that moment. "Do you know how much I want you right now?"

Something had kindled in his eyes as he had looked her up and down and smirked. "You'll have to wait your turn."

Watching him with their own baby now was incredible, she thought to herself. It was better than what she'd imagined. She could see in his face that he was content as well. She sighed. It was yet another wish that come so close to being fulfilled.

"I meant what I said before. I know men don't like needy women."

"Andromeda..."

"Please let me say this or I'll never get it out. I've never been on my own, of course. First I was one of the pampered Black girls, and even when that was frightening, I was still part of a set. I belonged to someone and they took care of my needs and small comforts.

"Then there was Ted, and we lived in a fantasy world, I guess. We loved each other and we were together, even if I couldn't leave the house for fear of what Trixie would do. I guess I know now what Trixie would do. It didn't matter as long as Ted was there. He filled my world with love and contentment and we were happy together, tending our garden and our child. When he was killed, I might have killed myself, but you were there.

"Now without you there's nothing, and I hate it. I hate that I can't sleep without your arms around me. I hate that I can't make a simple Pepper-up potion without missing your voice in my ear. For that matter, I hate that all the things I can do just fine by myself in my house are hard now... because I won't see you at dinner to talk them over. Worst of all, I've been living in a limbo for the past week because I don't know how my day is going until you sip your breakfast coffee and either smile or frown at it. I need you, and I hate it."

"Anna." She couldn't read his look, but it seemed to be a bit condescending. She turned away to continue.

"I've thought about what you've been through, that it's practically been indentured servitude all these years. I'm not going to hold you. I'll manage, and somehow I'll function even if I never stop needing you. I see how much you love our—your—daughter, and I won't keep her from you. I worked something out with Harry for Teddy; we can do the same for this little one. Just promise me... you'll do... what makes you... happy..." Her voice got weaker and a bit squeaky at the end.

He moved to sit beside her. "Do you think I've been happy this week? All I could think about was how I missed you. I miss seeing your hair glow in the sunshine when you were putting the laundry out to dry. I miss the graceful way you move through your kitchen as you cook or clear up after a meal. I miss the way you would look at me over the head of your grandson as though you and I share a special secret. I miss the fact that we do share special secrets. I miss the way I could wake up at night and feel you in my arms. Most of all, Andromeda Tonks, I miss the way I almost never thought of Lily when I was with you."

She looked up at that, a question in her eyes.

"I never realized it before, but Lily was a constant companion to me. I rarely did anything without being aware of her by my side. Then there was you, and she went away, but I never missed her. When I left you, she came back, but it was different. We were strangers all of a sudden, she and I. I've come to realize that I was wrong." He looked toward the window and cleared his throat.

She looked up into his eyes. Somehow she knew there was more. He seemed a bit changed from when she saw him last week. It was not farewell forever this time. It was something entirely different.

"I was drawn into your sorrow, first. It seemed so similar to my own. Then I was drawn by your strength of will. You were managing your bereavement in a way I hadn't considered. Then it was just... you. I hated the idea that just as I was getting used to you, just as I was opening my heart to you, they were going to take you away from me. The Dark Lord had been specific. You were mine for as long as it took to retrain you.

"When you told me you were pregnant, it was a blessing and a curse. I hated the idea of you carrying another man's child, but I couldn't believe it was mine. Yet, since you and the Dark Lord did believe it was mine, I thought I might take the opportunity to keep you for good.

"Then the war ended and you seemed to belong to so many others. I couldn't take you for myself when they all had a claim on you. Still you kept me with you, and wouldn't let me go. I hated myself for the obligation, but I couldn't make myself leave your side. You made so many demands of me, and you gave me so much in return. After I left, I don't know how many more days I could have waited. If you didn't ask for me after you went into labor, I might have come to you, anyway.

"Besides all that, of course, there was Lily. I know you understand about her, but I don't think you understand completely. You told me that Ted still has his place in your heart and that I have a place of my own there. Lily always had my whole heart, until now."

She looked up at him in question.

"I had to remember and believe everything she told me, because I thought it was all I had. It turns out that I didn't have to believe everything she said. When I finally realized I didn't need her, I realized she was wrong to say some of the things she said to me, and I was wrong to believe them." He smiled. "That last month at Hogwarts was the golden moment of my life. I told you that and it was true. More so, since we have this precious bundle from it." He lowered his face to his daughter's forehead and kissed her.

The baby stretched and Andromeda could see something dangling from the blanket. "What's that in her hand?" she asked.

Severus slid his fingers under his daughter's arm and the pearl necklace Andromeda had worn to dinner with her sisters slid out. "It's a custom in my family," he explained. "Within a day of birth, the girls are supposed to hold these pearls while their fathers tell them to make a wish. It's supposed to help them attain happiness in their lives."

"Does it work?"

"My mother never touched it until she was much older. Her father was too angry that she wasn't a boy. Her life was hard and full of misfortune, so not holding the pearls didn't do her any good."

Andromeda tilted her head and smiled at Severus and the baby. "What did she wish for?"

"I have no idea. I know what I wished for."

"What's that?"

Severus shifted the baby a little bit and then reached for Andromeda's hand. "That her mother will say yes." It was then she realized she was wearing a ring she'd never seen before. 

* * *

March 30, 1998

She smoothed the ivory lace down and fluffed her hair. As she did, a golden glint in her reflection in the mirror caught her eye. She held her left hand in front of her face and had to sit down as a wave of nausea flooded through her. Her husband was dead for only days and she was making herself beautiful for a different man.

She thought of Ted. She couldn't see him in her mind without that affectionate look in his eye, even when they had been students at Hogwarts. He had always loved her. Was this her repayment to him? She heard his voice in her mind. "You're still alive, Dromeda, but things are tough. You need to get through it however you can." When she blew out the candle, she could almost feel his hands on her shoulders, steadying her and caressing her at the same time. She almost felt his lips on the back of her neck and the sweet little things he would say while kissing her like that. "It's all right; I know you still love me. We're on opposite sides of the veil now, and you need this."

She brushed the tears from her eyes and fluffed her hair some more. Her reflection was dark, but she could still see her outline. She was as ready as she would be for what life offered her next. Her left hand trembled; she was _almost_ as ready as she would be. She slid her wedding band from her finger and clenched it within her fist. After a moment she kissed it and placed it with her cosmetics. The first two nights had been accidental, but this time it would be with full intent. She would not share a bed with one man while wearing the ring of another. She pulled her bathrobe on and opened the door.

When she saw the look in Severus's eyes, she knew she wasn't wrong. Whatever it was he was doing here at Hogwarts, it was something that would eventually be good. Somehow she knew that she was filling a space in his life. He needed her as much as she needed him. Her hand felt empty for the next few nights, but he filled her arms and together they kept loneliness and the insanity of the world around them at bay. 

* * *

January 10, 1999

She looked down at her hand. He was clasping it more tightly than before, but she could make out the old-fashioned marquise cut of the diamond ring on her finger. He had said that he would want to marry her after the baby was born. Maybe he felt guilty now that he was proved wrong. He'd also said the child should have her father's name. She looked back up to see that he was watching her. "You don't have to feel obligated."

"I don't." Her look became questioning, and he smiled. "I thought it would just be that moment, but the time since the war ended has been golden, too. I know we've struggled with learning how to live together, and I know I've tortured you by not believing you about this miracle we now share."

He took his hand from hers and touched the side of her face. "I've learned to love you, Andromeda, and every moment will be golden if I can spend it with you. Please marry me."

He shifted the baby in his arms a little and leaned down to her face. She lifted hers to accept his kiss, but he whispered, "Say yes."

"Yes," she whispered back.

He leaned back and looked at her in surprise. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes. You know I love you."

He leaned all the way down, then. With his free hand, he traced along her shoulder to her neck and then down her back, holding her closer and closer. She leaned up into his embrace as the kiss became deeper. Things were becoming heated when there was a cry of protest from the third person in the room, who was getting a bit squished. They broke apart and smiled at each other.

A few minutes later he was sitting in the chair again and looking with some satisfaction at his daughter and her mother. Andromeda was feeding the baby and smiling back at him. She held her hand out to look at the ring again. "Tell me about it," she said.

1835

Euphemia Black had been born the same month as Princess Victoria. She was the younger child of Oliver and Callidora. Their son, Icarus, was not yet married, but young wizards didn't until they were a bit older. However, an eligible witch at the age of sixteen ought to be betrothed, even if she was going to finish her seventh year at Hogwarts. She showed little interest in the young men of their set, so with a few misgivings, her parents sent her to visit a cousin of Callidora's in France for the summer holidays.

Pheemy fell head over heels for a young man she met, a count or a baron of some sort who had an estate in the Alps. His kisses left her dizzy and with longings she didn't understand. She spent all of her time with him and wrote to her parents of perhaps marrying instead of finishing her seventh year of school. This sounded suspicious to her parents, who wrote back that she was to return to England immediately. When she missed the Portkey, they sent Icarus after her.

The girl had received her parents' letter and made arrangements to run away with the young nobleman. She assessed that once she had ruined herself, her parents would be forced to let her marry him. She had no idea what it mean to ruin herself, but she knew it involved being alone with him for long enough to start gossip. She Apparated to his manor and tiptoed up the stairs, her heart thumping with excitement.

As she got up the stairs, she heard banging and strange yells. They led her to the third floor and then down a hallway. She wasn't sure why she followed the sounds, because some of them sounded painful. She followed them, however, and found herself in the doorway of a bedroom. She was face to face with her nobleman. He was on a bed, naked, over the body of a naked woman. She turned and made her way back down the stairs. By the time she reached the door, her brother found her and she fainted into his arms.

The family spoke long and carefully about whether to send the saddened witch to Hogwarts for her last year. After giving the Headmistress strict instructions, they let her go. Her school mates found her to be quieter than before, but decided she was trying to study harder and get high grades on her N.E.W.T.s. Those Blacks were a snooty lot, after all.

During the Christmas holidays she met Everard Prince, a classmate of her brother's. Everard was on holiday from Gringotts East India. He had reached a crossroads in his life and was looking for a reason to quit that job in favor of a desk job in London. One look at Euphemia Black decided him. He wooed her quite properly in front of her parents, by letter, and even during Hogsmeade weekends. Pheemy was not so easily swayed this time, but eventually agreed that Everard was at least as good a choice as any others.

When she first said yes, he placed a large marquise-cut diamond ring on her finger. It was rumored to be cut from the same stone as the Hope Diamond, as charmed as the larger diamond was cursed. Pheemy didn't pay much attention to it at first, other than to notice that it felt much more comfortable on her hand than she would have imagined based upon its size. As she prepared for her wedding, she found that the attractions of her bridegroom grew upon her and she went down the aisle with a sense of anticipation. As Everard brought her breakfast on the morning after their wedding night, a sense of contentment overcame her.

It turned out to be a brilliant marriage, initially sealed with that ring. Pheemy added to the mystique by agreeing that it must be enchanted, so happy had her life been after receiving it. Shortly before she died, she gave the ring to her oldest grandson, telling him that the next recipient should be a kinswoman of hers. The ring was passed from father to son and finally to a daughter without ever being worn again.

January 11, 1999

Andromeda made her way down to the meeting room of St. Mungo's, her mother chattering in her ear all the while. When she reached the doorway, Narcissa handed her a small bouquet. Andromeda looked at her sister in a silent question.

"He said they're ones that grow in your garden. He hounded Pomona Sprout until she found every last one of them in various hothouses."

"How does he seem?"

"I've never seen him so eager for anything, Andie."

"And the babies?"

"Potter has Teddy. Mrs. Figg has Eileen, but Mother is going to hold her once we go in."

Andromeda, answering a sudden urge, turned to her mother. "Give me your blessing, Mother."

Druella was completely surprised and charmed. She leaned over and hugged her daughter. "Of course, Andromeda. May you and Severus always be happy."

Mother opened the door and Cissy smiled encouragingly. Once the door was fully open, however, she saw him. It would be a sweet ceremony, and there would be tears and happiness as family and friends surrounded them with congratulations and joy. There would be no wedding night; that would come a month later, after Andromeda had recovered to the Healers' satisfaction. Instead they would simply find rest in each other's arms in between nighttime feedings. Andromeda wouldn't remember any of that. She only knew the look on Severus's face as he stood in a sort of golden glow and gazed at her. He looked at her and compelled her forward with his eyes, and it was all she would remember of that day.

_A/N: Thank you to Mark Darcy for beta reading._


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns._

October 7, 2000

Severus Snape was hurrying through the hallways of St. Mungo's. Poppy Pomfrey was chivying him along. "I don't understand why you thought it would be good to travel to Hogwarts today. The timing was so close."

"She said she wouldn't be early, and I needed to be at that meeting if I could."

"Hmph. I just hope you're not too late."

"Is it going that quickly?"

"See for yourself." Poppy steered him into a room.

He saw his wife sitting in a hospital bed, smiling faintly and resting her hands on her enormous belly. The Healers and her assistants were working in a flurry of action, but Andromeda was serene. "I knew you would get here," she said.

"Are you in much pain?"

She shook her head. "I think I've finally gotten the hang of this. Plus, they gave me a won-der-ful potion." She lay back and reached out a hand for him to take. He kissed it and sat down next to her. A Healer came over to the bed to talk to them and Severus looked up expectantly.

* * *

May 20, 2000

Severus watched her over breakfast. Andromeda was sick again for the fourth time this week, and it troubled him to look at her. He knew she was feeling strained and over-tired, but she didn't want to admit it. "You need to see a Healer. There is no telling what the problem could be. At least let's find out."

She looked at him bleakly. "What if it's something truly awful?"

"Then we'll know and we can face it together."

"What about the children?"

"Arabella and Birdie can handle them for the morning. We're going."

He wrapped her into a cloak and walked her over to the fireplace. He tossed in some Floo powder and said, "St. Mungo's," as he pushed her in. A minute later, he spun out of the hospital fireplace and retrieved her hand, guiding her to the front desk to sign in.

* * *

"You're kidding," said Andromeda. She felt foolish, sitting in a gown on top of a hospital bed with her husband and the Healer staring at her. Severus wasn't really staring; he was struggling not to smile. Any second his face would break into beaming and his reputation would be blown. "I'm too old," she complained.

"Apparently not, dear," answered the Healer with a cherubic smile.

Andromeda was struck by an urge to grab the clipboard and bang it over the Healer's head. The situation was ghastly, even if it was wonde—check that. Women her age who had two-year-old grandchildren _didn't_—except she had. She looked at her husband, who had lost the battle with his emotions. Looking into his eyes, she _knew_.

* * *

January 14, 2000

"Are you sure they're going to be all right?" Andromeda looked a bit worried.

Severus smirked indulgently. "Suddenly Molly Weasley isn't capable of caring for your daughter and grandson?"

"It's been so long since she's had babies in the house..."

"Eileen just had her birthday and Teddy is almost two. I think we can safely call them 'toddlers' now."

"Molly's never quite forgiven me..."

"Of course she has, just like Potter grudgingly admitted we could be together. It was _so_ kind of them both to allow us some happiness." He allowed himself some sarcasm.

"I just don't know..."

"Is there some reason you can't stand to spend a couple of days alone with me?"

She looked up at him. "Well, when you put it like that..."

He put out his hand. "Come."

He had found an out-of-the-way inn that didn't seem to mind them appearing out of nowhere. The innkeepers were simple folks who loved the romance of the couples who came to visit and believed in giving those couples privacy. Within minutes Severus and Andromeda were alone together in a room.

Andromeda suddenly didn't know what to do. This wasn't finding love in a stolen moment or collapsing together in a bed when the day's tasks were finally done. Neither was it a desperate need for contact with another lost soul. Their love for each other involved all of those things, but could now move into different areas as well.

"Anna." She looked up and saw his face. As he slid his feet out of his snake-skin boots, she slowly unfastened her robe. He was mesmerized by the movement of her hands and watched as she shrugged the garment to the floor and her hands moved to the fastenings of his robe. His own hands brushed up her arms and found the buttons on her dress. As he did, his head swooped down and his lips captured hers.

Suddenly they couldn't help themselves and their hands moved to only the clothes necessary. They came together in a burst of passion that exploded around them. They lay tangled together for a long minute before sitting up to survey the damage.

The first thing they repaired was a tear in the bed's duvet cover. "I don't know what possessed me to wear such high heeled shoes," she said. She saw the look in his eye as he ran his fingers down the calf of her leg and suddenly remembered why she wore those shoes and the silk stockings. There were also rips and tears in their clothing where fastenings rent the fabric or were torn off. Those things attended to, they proceeded to finish undressing each other.

Andromeda was working Severus's shirt up as she ran her fingertips along his sides. Suddenly he shuddered and lowered his arms protectively. "Stop that." She smiled and ran her fingertips up his sides again. This time he jumped and growled. She giggled.

He went completely still and said, "Do that again." She moved to tickle him again, but he grabbed her wrists and looked into her eyes. "No, I want you to giggle again."

She laughed at that. "How can I? You killed the mood by grabbing my hands."

He drank in the sound of her laughter and pulled her into his arms, the shirt still around his neck. "I can't tell you how long I've wanted to make you laugh."

She pulled away and looked at him, then giggled again and helped him the rest of the way out of his shirt. "You're not serious." The look in his eye stopped her and she simply waited for him to explain it.

"That day I looked inside your mind... I shouldn't have; I should have asked you. I saw that you laughed with Ted, and I've envied him that ever since. You were so free and joyful even if you were on the run."

"I _was_ a different person in those last moments I was his wife. You've become so much more to me, though. I need you in ways I never needed another person before. You held my life together when it was falling to pieces."

He brushed her hair back from her face. "You gave me a life when I would have been content to pretend to have one."

"We're good for each other, then," she said with a smile. "I wonder..." She started to tickle him again and this time he curled up protectively and gave a grunt of laughter. She got up on hands and knees and tried touching various places to see what sort of reactions she would get. When he decided he'd had enough, he pulled her down on top of himself.

Some time later, she was draped around him and he patted her back. "I shouldn't let you do that to me. I'm too old for it."

"You're younger than I am."

"Not really. Being a Death Eater ages a person."

"You're no Death Eater."

Not wanting to start a serious discussion, he deliberately changed the subject. "But I am hungry."

She rolled off of him and smiled. "I have no answer for that."

"We'll have to go down to dinner."

"Won't everyone know what we've been doing?"

"I'm sure from the twinkle in everyone's eye that they knew what we planned to do. Let's go down and scandalize them with our wantonness."

"Is it really wanton if we're married?"

In answer he slapped her behind. It earned him a shriek of laughter from her as they started Summoning their clothes from the various places they had landed. "I love that sound," he said against her lips.

"You should try making it more often yourself, then," she responded. "It's good for you."

* * *

October 7, 2000

"It's a boy," said the Healer.

Andromeda leaned back in relief as she started to relax and watch the progress of the baby around the room. Her happiness was complete the moment her husband took his son into his arms and kissed the little head. She wasn't sure she had ever seen such contentment in his face. She was resting comfortably when suddenly a new pain started to form in her back and work its way around her belly.

"Oh..."

The assistant looked at her and tugged on the sleeve of the Healer. "It's not the afterbirth." The Healer rushed over, swore under her breath and then started reassembling her instruments and tools.

"What's going on?" asked Severus.

The assistant brushed by him on her way to the hallway to call for another assistant. Then she took the baby and sat him back down next to his wife. Andromeda's eyes were enormous as she worked through a pain that was entirely too much like labor.

* * *

May 20, 2000

He held her hand as they walked down Diagon Alley for a few minutes to absorb the news. As if by some magnetic force, they found themselves in front of a display at a children's store. Andromeda's eyes looked greedily for any changes to the paraphernalia necessary to raise a tiny wizard or witch.

Severus lifted her hand to his lips. "It must have been that weekend. There was nothing lacking, before, but after that we've had so much more..."

"Yes," she answered absently, "yes."

"You don't mind, do you?"

She shook her head. "Oh, no. Ted and I used to dream of filling the cottage and then having to add on until it looked like the Burrow. Uncle Alphard loved the idea. It just never happened... It's a dream come true, Severus."

"Do you mind that it's with me?"

She put a hand up to his face. "Of course not. It happens when it happens. I'm glad we're at peace now. It's such a lovely time to raise children, and Eileen and this new one couldn't have any father but you."

He smiled at that and kissed her ear. "Not to change the subject, but we have the rest of the day to ourselves. Did you want to spend it here, or..." He used his eyes to finish the thought. Her giggle was the response he looked for.

Andromeda didn't think it was many heartbeats later that he had her undressed in their bed. He explored her body, looking for the signs of this new pregnancy and took his time admiring each one. She writhed in response. "I'm going to find a way to retaliate, you know."

He laughed. "You'll find no signs of pregnancy on me, but you're welcome to try."

Using a quick maneuver she had recently perfected, she rolled them both so that she was over him. She tickled and caressed and then kissed and fondled him until he was forced to protest. "I demand satisfaction."

She stopped what she was doing to kiss his lips. "Are you worried that you won't get it?"

He shook his head. "No, but I want to be gentle with you and you're pushing my limits."

"I'm at your service," she responded with an impish smile.

He took her at her word.

* * *

October 7, 2000

By the time their second son was born, Andromeda was ready to close her eyes and sleep for days. Severus was tired enough to wish he could crawl into the hospital bed with her. The part he hated more than anything was rousing his wife to feed the elder twin. Her doze was on the verge of becoming a deep sleep and she looked very peaceful.

"Anna," he said quietly, "Nigel needs to eat."

She was awake instantly, reaching her arms to take the baby, who was fussing and rooting. She set him to nurse and then looked over at her husband, who was sprawled in the chair. "We don't have a name for the other one."

"I'm too tired right now."

"I was wondering..." He looked up to see what she would say. "I always thought there should be one named for my uncle."

"Orion is out of the question."

"I meant my other uncle... Alphard. We're going to give them his room."

"Isn't that an old-fashioned name?"

"I suppose he'll hold his own among the Harrys and Rons that are likely to be born over the next few years... Not to mention all the Severuses..."

He snorted. "Don't remind me." He smiled tiredly. "If you like Alphard, that's what he'll be named."

A cry was heard as young Alphard complained about the empty state of his tummy.

Severus stood and got him. "You'll just have to wait your turn."

"Hold on," said Andromeda. "It's supposed to be possible to feed both at once. Perhaps with enough pillows..."

They managed to wedge both babies into place, but it wasn't very comfortable for any of the three people involved. Fortunately Nigel was almost full and after a few minutes was happy enough for his father to take him.

"This is going to be exhausting," said Severus.

"Maybe it will," answered his wife, "but when it's over, it will seem like the blink of an eye."

* * *

September 1, 2012

Once again, Severus Snape was walking quickly. He was at Kings Cross Station, pushing a luggage cart toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. His wife had just gone ahead of him to Platform nine and three quarters, and the children had gone ahead of her.

For his entire life, whenever he came through this train station he had always closed his eyes at the critical moment. When he opened them he beheld a world of vapor poured out of the shiny red steam train. He found his family by listening rather than looking. "Stick close to me, please." Teddy Lupin was trying to guide his young aunt and uncles toward the train.

"Listen to him go on," said Eileen. "Doesn't he put on airs?"

"You'd almost think _he_ was the uncle," said Nigel.

"Or a Prefect. Next he'll be telling us which house to join, _again_," said Alphard.

Teddy let out a huff. "If you lot don't shut it, I won't take you to see him."

"We saw them all just last week at the park, Teddy. You just want to see Victoire again!" Eileen was more right than Teddy wanted to admit, so he turned his back on her.

"And who have we here?" The head of the Aurors materialized next to the young Snapes, wearing his official robes.

"Mr. Potter!" Eileen looked up with shining eyes.

Harry looked at the boys, who were making faces at their nephew's back. "Is there a problem?"

Alphard looked up. "Well, sir, Teddy says Gryffindor is the best house, but Mum and Dad were both Slytherin. Eileen went Ravenclaw—"

"Which was a bit of a disappointment to everyone," finished Nigel.

"Except _me_," answered the Ravenclaw herself.

"Quite right, Miss Snape. I think you have the correct answer."

The twins looked up in question.

Harry looked at all three children. "Listen to the Sorting Hat, and if it gives you a choice, tell it. Gryffindor was the right house for me, but the man who spied for Dumbledore and saved everything needed to come from Slytherin." Dad was frowning at Mr. Potter. He hated to have that story told. Mr. Potter grinned. He loved to annoy Dad. "Your sister has it right. There are four best houses, and there will be one that is the best house for each of you."

The train's whistle came through the mist and there was a flurry of kisses and last messages. All of a sudden Nigel couldn't seem to let go of Mum. "It's all right, dear, you can go," she said.

He looked up at Dad and said, "You will take care of her, won't you?"

Dad and Mum smiled at each other, and then he looked solemnly down at him and said, "On my wand, Nigel. It's my job now, since your job is to do your best at Hogwarts. Whatever house you're in, and whatever you attempt, as long as you work hard and do your best, we'll be proud of you."

Mum gave him one last kiss and whispered, "I love you," and it was time to go.

Looking out the window, Nigel saw that Mum was waving to him, while Mr. Potter was shaking Dad's hand. They all waved for just a moment as the train started. Nigel watched his mother get smaller until she disappeared entirely.

Andromeda finally stopped waving and turned to her husband, giving him a watery smile. "They're all gone, now."

"You were right," he answered gently, as he put his arm around her. "It wasn't long at all."

"You must be glad to have them all out of the house," said Harry. "I think Ginny has already made a calendar counting down the weeks until James goes."

"No, it's been a precious time for us," said Andromeda. "We'll enjoy our time with just us, of course, but we've loved having the kids in the house, too."

Her husband agreed. "Bad and good, it's all been golden."

_A/N: I started this story as a sort of lark. I've been working on another story that involves these characters when I came across the prompt that started this. I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it. Thanks to Alabastor Princess for being such an avid reader and reviewer, and especially to Mark Darcy, for beta reading!_


End file.
